Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Sold by Axiom Investors LLC DE

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. by 42.2%, selling 31,250 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with approximately 0.15% ownership valued at $8.13 million.
• Badger Meter recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, up from $0.34, representing an annualized yield of 0.8% with a payout ratio of 34.86%.
• The company reported $1.17 EPS for the last quarter, slightly missing analysts' expectations, while its revenue increased by 9.9% year-over-year to $238.10 million.

Axiom Investors LLC DE lessened its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 42.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,743 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 31,250 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned approximately 0.15% of Badger Meter worth $8,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 83.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 194 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price objective on Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.40.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI stock traded down $2.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $186.34. 253,673 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,253. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $256.08. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $213.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.30. The firm has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The firm had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $235.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.86%.

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.