Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 30,103 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden reduced its Badger Meter stake by 4.1%, selling 30,103 shares in the third quarter; it retained 698,858 shares, valued at about $86.3 million.
• Analyst views are mixed: six rate the stock Buy, five Hold and one Sell, giving it a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $166.33.
• Badger Meter earned $1.24 per share in its latest quarter, slightly above estimates, while revenue of $230.3 million fell short of expectations. The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.44 per share.

Boston Trust Walden Corp decreased its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 698,858 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 30,103 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 2.45% of Badger Meter worth $86,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BMI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Northcoast Research cut shares of Badger Meter from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $168.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $187.00 price target (up from $162.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $166.33.

Badger Meter Trading Up 7.6%

Badger Meter stock opened at $164.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $134.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.91. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.09 and a 1-year high of $192.28.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.01. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $230.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.65%.

Badger Meter Profile

Badger Meter, Inc is a water technology company that develops and manufactures flow measurement, control and communications solutions. Its products are used to measure and manage water across municipal, commercial and industrial applications, helping customers improve operational efficiency, monitor usage and support water conservation.

The company's offerings include mechanical, ultrasonic and electromagnetic flow meters; valves and related flow-control equipment; and smart water technologies.

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