Stifel Financial Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 29.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 14,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter worth about $230,000. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the second quarter worth approximately $243,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,249,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.00.

Badger Meter Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $219.45 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.50 and a twelve month high of $239.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.42.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.