Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Purchased by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Badger Meter stake by 14,467.6% to 4.98 million shares, representing about 17.18% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 89.01% of BMI.
• Analysts maintain a mixed but generally stable outlook, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164. Badger Meter shares recently opened at $125.33, versus a 12-month range of $112.09 to $204.00.
• Badger Meter slightly beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $1.02, although revenue declined 6.6% year over year to $220.3 million. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, equivalent to a 1.4% annual yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 14,467.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,980,820 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,946,629 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 17.18% of Badger Meter worth $739,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $237,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 66.7% during the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 20,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the second quarter valued at approximately $348,000. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 654.3% during the second quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 29,334 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,353,000 after purchasing an additional 25,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fundsmith LLP lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 22.6% during the second quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 174,627 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $25,911,000 after purchasing an additional 32,136 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Edward Callahan acquired 751 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $101,572.75. Following the acquisition, the vice president owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,979.25. This represents a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Badger Meter from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised Badger Meter from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $167.00 price target on Badger Meter and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Badger Meter from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.00.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI opened at $125.33 on Monday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.09 and a 12-month high of $204.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%.The firm had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.59 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This is a positive change from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Badger Meter's payout ratio is presently 41.12%.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, Inc is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of flow measurement, control and communications solutions. The company primarily serves the water industry, providing products and technologies that help utilities and other customers measure, monitor and manage water use.

Its product portfolio includes water meters, ultrasonic and electromagnetic flow meters, advanced metering infrastructure, remote-read meter technologies and software-based data and analytics solutions. Badger Meter also offers flow measurement products for applications in industrial, commercial, municipal, fire protection and heating, ventilation and air conditioning markets.

Founded in 1905, Badger Meter serves customers primarily in North America and also markets its products internationally.

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