Cibc World Markets Corp Buys New Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $74,322,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares during the period. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $7,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 29.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $369,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Badger Meter Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI traded down $3.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $192.37. 179,594 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,771. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.18 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.80.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. As a group, analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter's payout ratio is 32.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BMI. Maxim Group raised 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 raised their price target on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $218.75.

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.