Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Bought by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 29.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,672 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Badger Meter worth $3,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 8,666.7% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.50.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $186.35 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $190.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.11. 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 $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.81.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend 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.