Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,417 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 261.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE BMI opened at $198.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $151.18 and a twelve month high of $239.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $211.97 and a 200 day moving average of $213.94.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on 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 upped their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

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.