Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $12.48 Million Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 23,546 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned about 0.23% of Badger Meter worth $12,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,127,000 after acquiring an additional 74,578 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $10,360,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $10,622,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 66.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,974,000 after acquiring an additional 51,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $216.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.06 and a twelve month high of $220.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $202.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.23.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the firm’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 value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.