Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,767 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 3,257 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.10% of Badger Meter worth $5,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 231,398 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 21,179.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $31,779,000 after buying an additional 166,255 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 184.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 166,191 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,586,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.1%

BMI stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $239.65. 186,537 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 214,521. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $256.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $242.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.41.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 15.74%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BMI. 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 research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Argus set a $240.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.60.

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.