First Interstate Bank Buys New Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

First Interstate Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,746 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 254,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 288,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $44,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,766 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,069,000. Finally, Cim LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,550,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BMI shares. Argus raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 target price on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the 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 directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BMI opened at $192.24 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.90 and a 200 day moving average of $183.22. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 55.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.06 and a 52-week high of $210.29.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

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.