Quadrature Capital Ltd Buys Shares of 6,923 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 6,923 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 254,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 288,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,766 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,362 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after acquiring an additional 12,339 shares during the period. Finally, Cim LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $1,550,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Maxim Group boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.80.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $186.97 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.06 and a 12 month high of $202.81. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $187.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.50.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly 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. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.