Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $5.83 Million Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. by 4.3% in Q1, now holding 30,589 shares worth approximately $5.83 million.
• Badger Meter has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.34 to $0.40 per share, with a 0.9% yield and a payout ratio of 34.86%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.17, missing estimates but reporting a 9.9% revenue increase year-over-year.

Erste Asset Management GmbH trimmed its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,381 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH owned 0.10% of Badger Meter worth $5,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,448,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,715,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 166,255 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 buying an additional 166,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $187.3350 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $219.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.34. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $162.17 and a one year high of $256.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The company had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Badger Meter's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed 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 a boost from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is 34.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus set a $240.00 price objective on Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 target price on Badger Meter in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.40.

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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