Castleark Management LLC Buys Shares of 13,490 Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 148.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $11,804,000 after purchasing an additional 28,779 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 24,784 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,071,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth $343,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 80.1% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 97,363 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,849,000 after buying an additional 43,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 90,115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 70,368 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $17,236,000 after acquiring an additional 70,290 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BMI shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Badger Meter from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.00.

Badger Meter Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of BMI opened at $184.66 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $179.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.93. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.17 and a 12-month high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.88 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.