1,941 Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Acquired by United Services Automobile Association

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association has made a new investment in Badger Meter, acquiring 1,941 shares valued at approximately $369,000.
• A number of institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Badger Meter, with one firm growing its stake by 771.9% during the first quarter.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $237.00 for Badger Meter, with three analysts rating the stock as a Buy and three as Hold.

United Services Automobile Association 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 Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,941 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,731 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at about $369,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Badger Meter by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at about $65,448,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Badger Meter by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on BMI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.00.

Badger Meter Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Badger Meter stock traded down $3.51 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.74. The stock had a trading volume of 189,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 282,370. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.87. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The business's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter's payout ratio is 34.86%.

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.