Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 6,980 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 135,696 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,980 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $28,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5,897.0% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,917,000 after buying an additional 231,398 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $20,586,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 363,164 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $77,034,000 after acquiring an additional 68,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,462,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BMI shares. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Badger Meter Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $195.91 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $207.07 and a 200 day moving average of $213.39. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $151.18 and a 52 week high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 46.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.