Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Position Cut by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 14.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 366 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.2% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.4% during the second quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,739,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.8% during the second quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 2,401 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,505. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $217.11 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $200.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.57, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.06 and a 52-week high of $219.71.

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

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

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.