California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 79.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 12,384 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $4,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position 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 valued at $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 126,707 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Badger Meter by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,617,000 after purchasing an additional 58,941 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 333.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 61,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $9,417,000 after buying an additional 46,924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $189.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 54.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.82. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.06 and a 52-week high of $190.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.07.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,096,919.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of Badger Meter 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.