William R. A. Bergum Sells 2,416 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value of $508,157.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.1 %

Badger Meter stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.55. 160,365 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,287. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.87 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $213.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.80. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. As a group, research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given 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 is 32.15%.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Maxim Group raised their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.