Annex Advisory Services LLC Has $2.74 Million Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1,284.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,935 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 12,001 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,523,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $385,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,406 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $13,450,000 after purchasing an additional 4,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE BMI opened at $215.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.50 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $218.65 and a 200-day moving average of $209.81.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 33.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.00.

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.