Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Badger Meter worth $20,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 9.8% during the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 615 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. increased 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 worth $3,739,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.4% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 2,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMI. Argus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

BMI opened at $217.07 on Monday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $134.06 and a one year high of $219.71. The company has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.56, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $200.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.64.

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

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

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

About Badger Meter

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.