Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Sells 32,950 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Key Points

• Montanaro Asset Management Ltd has reduced its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. by 61.6%, now owning approximately $3.90 million worth of shares, following the sale of 32,950 shares during the first quarter.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.34, indicating a positive outlook with a 0.8% annualized yield.
• Badger Meter's stock missed earnings estimates for the last quarter, reporting $1.17 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19, while its revenues increased by 9.9% year-over-year.

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 61.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 32,950 shares during the period. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Badger Meter worth $3,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 8,739 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BMI. Argus set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.40.

Badger Meter Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of BMI stock traded down $4.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $186.83. The stock had a trading volume of 304,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 521,146. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $222.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.82. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $256.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 40.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The firm had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $235.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Badger Meter's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Badger Meter's payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

Badger Meter 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.