Nvest Financial LLC Invests $318,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Nvest Financial LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $385,000. Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the third quarter worth about $1,120,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 14.3% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,869 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,650,000 after purchasing an additional 3,233 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI stock opened at $207.10 on Wednesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.50 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $217.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.03.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend 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.