Seven Eight Capital LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 27.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,044 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Wealth Alliance acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 254,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $44,459,000 after purchasing an additional 4,766 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $1,069,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Badger Meter by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,362 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,070,000 after purchasing an additional 12,339 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.20.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.6 %

BMI stock traded down $3.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $201.11. The stock had a trading volume of 197,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,106. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.96, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.06 and a 1-year high of $206.57.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 31.12%.

Badger Meter 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.