Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,806 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Badger Meter worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.8% in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 8.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,305 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $147,367,000 after buying an additional 80,979 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Badger Meter by 0.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 363,243 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $52,260,000 after buying an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 6.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 283,238 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,749,000 after acquiring an additional 17,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 251,383 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,806,000 after acquiring an additional 2,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $221,221.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Badger Meter 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 transaction of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $183.20 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $159.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.72. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.93 and a fifty-two week high of $187.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 52.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS 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 return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 31.12%.

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.