Quest Partners LLC Has $1.86 Million Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 8.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $594,570,000 after purchasing an additional 22,707 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Badger Meter by 14.9% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Badger Meter by 27.8% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 6,044 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI stock opened at $212.97 on Tuesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.50 and a fifty-two week high of $230.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.85, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $213.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.22.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,505. The trade was a 22.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.75.

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.