Strong Tower Advisory Services Invests $222,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Strong Tower Advisory Services bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,018 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,304 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 7.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,160 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 14.3% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 278,606 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 160,359 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,948,000 after buying an additional 2,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMI. 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $225.90. The stock had a trading volume of 17,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,197. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.40. The company has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.18, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $134.06 and a one year high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.51%.

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.