Vident Advisory LLC Buys 17,025 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Badger Meter by 207.1% in Q1, now owning 25,245 shares valued at approximately $4.80 million.
• Badger Meter reported $1.17 EPS for the last quarter, slightly missing analysts' expectations, but achieved a revenue growth of 9.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a new quarterly dividend of $0.40, marking a boost from its previous dividend of $0.34, which reflects a yield of 0.9%.

Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 207.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,245 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,025 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC owned 0.09% of Badger Meter worth $4,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 8,739 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 618 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Badger Meter by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 2.8% in the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,857 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BMI. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.40.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.4%

Badger Meter stock traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $182.55. 152,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 279,115. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.14. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.17 and a 52 week high of $256.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.87.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The firm had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is 34.86%.

Badger Meter Company 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.