River Street Advisors LLC Purchases 767 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

River Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 21.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,330 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the quarter. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 8.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 7.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,938 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,369,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of BMI traded down $4.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $215.32. The company had a trading volume of 160,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,433. The firm has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $213.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.96. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $230.76.

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

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. This represents a 22.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Company 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.