Massar Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Massar Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,328 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $918,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 348.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $12,034,000 after purchasing an additional 42,806 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 9.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,317 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,126,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of the South acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth $394,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.40.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BMI opened at $200.54 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $198.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.94. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.41, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter's payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.80% 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.

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