AGF Management Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. by 136.2% in Q1, holding $10.28 million worth of shares as of the end of the quarter.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, up from $0.34, with an annualized yield of 0.8%, indicating positive growth in shareholder returns.
• Despite a miss on earnings per share for its latest quarter, Badger Meter's revenue rose by 9.9% year-over-year, highlighting underlying business strength.

AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 136.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,048 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,169 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Badger Meter worth $10,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMI. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 93,251 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $17,741,000 after purchasing an additional 19,960 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,715,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at about $447,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $120,027,000 after purchasing an additional 129,945 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:BMI traded down $4.25 on Friday, reaching $186.83. 304,901 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 521,146. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.84. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $256.08. The company's 50 day moving average is $222.84 and its 200-day moving average is $216.82.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Badger Meter's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Argus set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.40.

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.