Inspire Investing LLC Sells 269 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Inspire Investing LLC reduced its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 9.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BMI shares. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

BMI traded up $3.54 on Tuesday, hitting $199.74. 54,951 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 178,038. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.90. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.06 and a 12 month high of $202.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 56.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.25 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Badger Meter’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

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

Badger Meter Company 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.