Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Purchases 10,890 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,890 shares during the quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.76% of Badger Meter worth $47,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Badger Meter by 261.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE BMI traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $199.43. 242,901 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 178,434. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.94. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.18 and a 1-year high of $239.11.

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Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.