Carderock Capital Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired 10,790 shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in Q2, valued at approximately $2,643,000.
• Badger Meter reported Q2 earnings of $1.17 per share, slightly missing estimates, with revenue up 9.9% year-over-year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.34 to $0.40, representing an annualized yield of 0.9%.

Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,790 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $2,643,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price target on Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.00.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock traded down $2.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $174.60. 70,504 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 289,867. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $191.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.19. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.05, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.88. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.17 and a 12-month high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.