Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 8,779 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,574 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,779 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.16% of Badger Meter worth $7,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 9.1% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 6.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 29,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,933,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 12.7% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter valued at about $291,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE BMI traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $154.11. 128,042 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 172,803. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.02 and a 12-month high of $170.86. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.07, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The business's fifty day moving average price is $156.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.28.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The company had revenue of $182.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Badger Meter's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.