SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires New Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,942 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 11.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 6.5% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 11,874 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,259,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at $1,138,000. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 28,202 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,365,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,074 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Badger Meter Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE BMI traded up $4.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $247.17. 212,369 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 244,605. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.17 and a 1 year high of $256.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.44, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $236.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.36.

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

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

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