Portside Wealth Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 77.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $814,939,000 after buying an additional 44,839 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17,873 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $106,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,719 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $91,884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $246.42. The stock had a trading volume of 215,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,515. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $256.08. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average is $218.59 and its 200 day moving average is $214.87.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Badger Meter's payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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 note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $229.80.

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.