Xponance Inc. Purchases 308 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 261.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value of $508,157.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $192.37 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.18 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.65. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 32.15%.

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.