Dakota Wealth Management Acquires New Position in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Dakota Wealth Management has acquired a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI), purchasing 3,976 shares valued at approximately $974,000.
• Badger Meter recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.9%, up from the previous $0.34.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Badger Meter's stock, with an average target price of $237.00 and several firms issuing "overweight" and "buy" ratings.

Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,976 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $974,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 25.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $120,027,000 after buying an additional 129,945 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 9.8% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 398,588 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $75,831,000 after buying an additional 35,424 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at about $65,448,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 2.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 305,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $58,034,000 after buying an additional 8,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 1.7% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 291,637 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $55,484,000 after acquiring an additional 4,807 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on BMI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. 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 note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $237.00.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $176.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.31. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 38.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.87. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter's payout ratio is currently 34.86%.

Badger Meter Company 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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