Park Capital Management LLC WI Invests $251,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Park Capital Management LLC WI purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 44,839 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 4th 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $106,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,719 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 17,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock traded up $4.78 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $247.17. The company had a trading volume of 212,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,039. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.17 and a 12-month high of $256.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $236.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.49. The firm has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.85.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.74% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BMI. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $240.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $236.60.

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.