Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Position Lessened by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 20.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,107 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,499,000 after buying an additional 40,400 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 2.7% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 27,293 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,086,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 12.9% in the second quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,044 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 72.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,621 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,656,000 after purchasing an additional 8,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 273.9% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 24,024 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,477,000 after purchasing an additional 17,598 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $791,505. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BMI shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $219.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.27, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $200.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.91. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.06 and a twelve month high of $219.71.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.