934 Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Bought by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $1,069,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 15.1% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at $4,369,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Badger Meter by 33.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $226.20 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $206.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.12. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.06 and a 12-month high of $230.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $216.70 million for 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%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $791,505. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Argus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.25.

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.