OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Sells 358 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora decreased its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,143 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 358 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 532 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 8,666.7% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total transaction of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Badger Meter Stock Up 12.4 %

Shares of BMI stock traded up $18.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $171.93. The company had a trading volume of 222,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,141. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.02 and a 52 week high of $174.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.37.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $182.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 34.39%.

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.