Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 295,077 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 313,461 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 1.00% of Badger Meter worth $54,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,304 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 7.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $62,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,160 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,127,000 after purchasing an additional 74,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,359,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $217.07 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.06 and a fifty-two week high of $219.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.47. The company has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio 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.