3,106 Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Acquired by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,106 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Badger Meter by 261.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $225.20.

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Badger Meter Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BMI traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $193.18. 293,823 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,488. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.65. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $151.18 and a one year high of $239.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. Equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

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