Olympiad Research LP Takes $371,000 Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $385,000. Geneva Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,120,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 29.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Down 3.7 %

BMI opened at $210.14 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.87 and a 12-month high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.68, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $215.39 and a 200-day moving average of $213.05.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. On average, analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Maxim Group increased their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

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.