Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Grows Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,903 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,982 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $12,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $814,939,000 after purchasing an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 28,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,964,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $6,682,000. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $659,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth $316,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $194.16 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $210.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.18 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued 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 return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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