Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 1,170 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 661.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,622,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 66.4% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,974,000 after purchasing an additional 51,318 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 86.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 100,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $18,782,000 after purchasing an additional 46,650 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 47.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,499,000 after buying an additional 40,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 80.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 78,914 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,706,000 after buying an additional 35,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $215.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.50 and a 1-year high of $230.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.28.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.