Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 8,779 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,574 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,779 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $7,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMI. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,991,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $497,681,000 after buying an additional 28,050 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,614,269 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $519,985,000 after purchasing an additional 27,763 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,097,093 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $193,750,000 after purchasing an additional 26,896 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,305 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $147,367,000 after buying an additional 80,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 591,793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $72,092,000 after buying an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $153.15 on Tuesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.02 and a 1-year high of $170.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.28.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $182.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 34.39%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total transaction of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMI. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.50.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives.