Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $6,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 363,164 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $77,034,000 after purchasing an additional 68,137 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $74,322,000 after purchasing an additional 12,180 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 335,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $71,083,000 after purchasing an additional 23,606 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 222,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $47,180,000 after buying an additional 10,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Badger Meter by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 212,024 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,975,000 after buying an additional 4,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

Insider Activity

In other Badger Meter news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE:BMI opened at $202.04 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.18 and a 1 year high of $239.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.76, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.