Trust Co of the South Buys Shares of 1,856 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Trust Co of the South purchased a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,856 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 61.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 805 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the third quarter valued at $204,000. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 636.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.00.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.7 %

BMI traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $210.74. 111,505 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,985. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.57. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.29, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 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.