Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Stock: CenterBook Partners LP Raises Stake

CenterBook Partners LP grew its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 202.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,446 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,330 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,163 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.9% in the third quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 19,244 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,377,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 21.6% in the third quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 31,236 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Badger Meter by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 137,033 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,929,000 after purchasing an additional 24,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 138.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $159.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $135.39 and a 200-day moving average of $138.75. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $112.09 and a one year high of $192.28.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $230.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.35 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 18.49%. Badger Meter’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BMI. Northcoast Research lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $175.00 target price on Badger Meter in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up from $162.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $168.00 price target on Badger Meter in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.33.

Badger Meter Profile

Badger Meter, Inc is a Milwaukee-based manufacturer of products and systems used to measure and manage water and other fluid flows. Founded in 1905, the company serves municipal water utilities as well as commercial and industrial customers.

Its offerings include water meters, flow instrumentation and related communications technology that helps customers collect and analyze usage data. Badger Meter also provides water quality monitoring equipment and software for tracking water system performance and supporting operational decisions.

The company serves customers in North America and international markets through its sales and distribution networks.