Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,979 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,979 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $814,939,000 after buying an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $169,448,000 after buying an additional 17,873 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $106,261,000 after buying an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $91,884,000 after buying an additional 17,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BMI. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $229.80.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI traded down $2.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $242.41. 165,205 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,845. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.31, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average price is $226.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.04. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Badger Meter's payout ratio is 29.96%.

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.