Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Purchases 930 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned 0.05% of Badger Meter worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BMI. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,342 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 30,263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 3,497 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BMI shares. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.7 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $212.68 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.87 and a 1 year high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $213.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.96.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Company 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.