Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 527 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,617 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 527 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.19% of Badger Meter worth $11,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 222,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $47,180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,890 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 31,970 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,891,000 after buying an additional 7,693 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 175.2% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,383 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 3,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 57,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,261,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value of $508,157.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,986,475.67. This trade represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 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 $247,131.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,162,280.60. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $202.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 47.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.18 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $211.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.75.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

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.