Alpine Bank Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 1,815 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,815 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $814,939,000 after purchasing an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $169,448,000 after buying an additional 17,873 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $106,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $91,884,000 after acquiring an additional 17,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Badger Meter from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus set a $240.00 target price on Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.60.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI traded up $4.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $247.17. The stock had a trading volume of 212,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,039. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.85. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $256.08. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $236.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.49.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 15.74%. The business had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

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.