Royce & Associates LP Acquires Shares of 2,699 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 2,699 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 1,016.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 2,633.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Stock Up 2.7 %

BMI stock opened at $216.85 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $214.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.81, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.50 and a fifty-two week high of $230.76.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Maxim Group lifted 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter 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.