Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the third quarter worth about $364,000. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 21,860 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,774,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1,500.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the third quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in Badger Meter by 8.5% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,544 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of Badger Meter 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 in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $207.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.07. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.06 and a 1 year high of $230.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 59.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.75.

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.