Annex Advisory Services LLC Acquires 12,001 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 1,284.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,935 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,001 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $73,866,000 after acquiring an additional 19,848 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 331,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $72,462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 2.8% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 295,027 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $64,437,000 after acquiring an additional 7,967 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $23,974,000 after acquiring an additional 51,318 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 86.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 100,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $18,782,000 after acquiring an additional 46,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $216.00.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Badger Meter stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $215.06. 132,073 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 158,110. The company's fifty day moving average is $218.65 and its 200-day moving average is $209.81. The firm 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 52 week low of $139.50 and a 52 week high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The business's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

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.