Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Invests $65.45 Million in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 344,010 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $65,448,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 1.17% of Badger Meter at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter worth approximately $568,000. Vestcor Inc raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,483 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 1st quarter valued at $1,215,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter worth about $1,381,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE:BMI traded down $1.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $186.85. The stock had a trading volume of 175,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,624. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $231.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.97. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $256.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. Badger Meter's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Argus set a $240.00 price objective on Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.40.

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.