Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,440 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 154,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,440 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.53% of Badger Meter worth $28,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BMI. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 2,633.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 9.8% in the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 615 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Argus boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BMI stock opened at $206.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.06 and a 1 year high of $210.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.82.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Badger Meter Company 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.