Rhumbline Advisers Has $25.09 Million Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,851 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 6,560 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.45% of Badger Meter worth $25,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 261.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BMI. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $240.00 target price on Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James began coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research 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 currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.80.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of BMI traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $248.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 168,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,124. The company has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $220.71 and a 200 day moving average of $215.27. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.17 and a 1 year high of $256.08.

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. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The firm had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.