Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Increases Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 661.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,544 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 39.3% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,333 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $16,890,000 after acquiring an additional 21,799 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 67.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 37,976 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,294,000 after purchasing an additional 15,240 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,866,000 after purchasing an additional 19,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 81.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,041 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $215.99 on Wednesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.50 and a 12 month high of $230.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.28.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The business had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Badger Meter’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.75.

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.