Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers cut its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,291 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,079 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.43% of Badger Meter worth $26,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $155,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $220.35 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $215.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.69. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.87 and a twelve month high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. Analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

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.