Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,673 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Badger Meter worth $2,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BMI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Badger Meter by 5,897.0% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $49,917,000 after purchasing an additional 231,398 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 21,179.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $31,779,000 after purchasing an additional 166,255 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 256,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $54,350,000 after purchasing an additional 166,191 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $20,586,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BMI shares. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Argus set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.60.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI opened at $246.09 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $237.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.34. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.17 and a 1 year high of $256.08. The stock has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.85.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.74% and a return on equity of 22.35%. 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 prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

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

Badger Meter 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.

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