Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases New Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,615 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of BMI traded up $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $230.66. 114,964 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 202,861. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.53, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.42.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on BMI shares. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $229.80.

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.