Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $2,269,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Badger Meter as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 15.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 29,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.7 %

Badger Meter stock traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $153.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 181,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,914. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.02 and a 1 year high of $170.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 48.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day moving average is $156.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.37.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $182.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.24 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Badger Meter's payout ratio is currently 34.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.