Mirova Purchases 7,137 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Mirova increased its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 39.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,353 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,137 shares during the quarter. Badger Meter comprises about 0.9% of Mirova’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Mirova’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $5,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 636.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 348.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,034,000 after buying an additional 42,806 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 9.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 14.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,317 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,126,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 shares were 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. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.60.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $201.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.17. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s 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.