Norway Savings Bank Buys New Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Norway Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 0.4% during the second quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 5.0% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 2,401 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Arjuna Capital increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 2,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Argus increased their price target on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.25.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE:BMI traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $224.39. 25,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 172,970. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.06 and a fifty-two week high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.