Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 5,592 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. sold 5,592 shares of Badger Meter, reducing its stake by 1.6% to 344,786 shares with a value of $65.6 million.
• Badger Meter's stock has recently seen a 2.2% decline, currently trading at $186.83, down from a 12-month high of $256.08.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.40 per share, up from the previous $0.34, reflecting a positive adjustment in its annualized yield.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,786 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 5,592 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.17% of Badger Meter worth $65,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 22.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,731 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $369,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter worth approximately $65,448,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BMI. 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 target price on Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $240.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.40.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.0%

BMI stock traded up $0.00 during trading on Monday, reaching $186.82. 55,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 277,200. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 40.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $222.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.93. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.86%.

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.