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

Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position 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 SEC. The fund owned 2,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 5,897.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $49,917,000 after acquiring an additional 231,398 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 21,179.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $31,779,000 after acquiring an additional 166,255 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 256,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $54,350,000 after acquiring an additional 166,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,586,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Badger Meter stock traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $246.42. 215,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,295. The company's fifty day moving average is $219.67 and its 200-day moving average is $215.08. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 58.26, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.85. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.17 and a 52 week high of $256.08.

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

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Argus set a $240.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $229.80.

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.