Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 334 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,806 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,603 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 4.5% in the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 2,272 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 5.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,034 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,080 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BMI opened at $183.20 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.93 and a 1-year high of $187.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.80, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.72.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.80.

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.