GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $40,000 Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 851.3% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 126,707 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,617,000 after buying an additional 58,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the third quarter valued at $2,230,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 $2,181,367.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total transaction of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $189.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $163.88 and a 200 day moving average of $153.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 54.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.06 and a 1 year high of $190.39.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.80.

Badger Meter Profile

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.