Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 4,050 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 239,310 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,050 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 0.81% of Badger Meter worth $50,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 115.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 20,349 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,792,000 after purchasing an additional 10,911 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,249 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Badger Meter by 11.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 20.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,909 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,946,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.9 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $215.81 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.28. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.50 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 51.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

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.