Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 9,339 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,102 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 9,339 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.14% of Badger Meter worth $8,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $594,570,000 after purchasing an additional 22,707 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Badger Meter by 7.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $62,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,160 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the 3rd 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. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 7,967 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 66.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $23,974,000 after purchasing an additional 51,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities 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.com, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BMI traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $221.00. 184,482 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 179,525. The company has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.35, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.50 and a 52 week high of $230.76.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. Badger Meter's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. 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.