Vestcor Inc Grows Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 175.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,383 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 3,427 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 261.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $198.09 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.18 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $211.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Maxim Group boosted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

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.