William R. A. Bergum Sells 2,416 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value of $508,157.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BMI stock opened at $210.22 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.84. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.87 and a 12-month high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BMI shares. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.