Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 4,471 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,632 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,471 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.22% of Badger Meter worth $12,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $577,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the second quarter worth $2,833,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the second quarter worth $1,032,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 47.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,499,000 after purchasing an additional 40,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in Badger Meter by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 27,293 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,086,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.9 %

BMI stock opened at $219.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $201.15 and a 200-day moving average of $187.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.06 and a 12 month high of $220.25.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 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 company had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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. 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 is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 39.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BMI. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. 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. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.20.

Badger Meter Company 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.