Needham Investment Management LLC Sells 3,150 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Needham Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. by 17.8%, now owning 14,500 shares worth approximately $2.76 million.
• Badger Meter reported a quarterly earnings miss of $1.17 per share, slightly below analysts' estimates of $1.19, despite a 9.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company also recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.34 to $0.40 per share, reflecting a payout ratio of 34.86% and an annual yield of 0.9%.

Needham Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 182,382 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,687,000 after purchasing an additional 95,966 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,414 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $6,239,000 after purchasing an additional 6,343 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 54.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 82,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $17,529,000 after purchasing an additional 29,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,093 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,595 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.00.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI traded down $2.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $177.38. The company had a trading volume of 379,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,134. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $202.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.14. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $256.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

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