Arizona State Retirement System Has $1.81 Million Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $74,322,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $312,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 541.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,221 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 3,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $206.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.90, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.87 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $212.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.10.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.