Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,535 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 582 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Arjuna Capital increased its position 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 valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $219.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 63.14, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.06 and a 52-week high of $220.25.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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 was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $791,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.