American International Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

American International Group Inc. decreased its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,012 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Badger Meter by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,603 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Badger Meter by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,476,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.80.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $186.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.67, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.81. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.06 and a 1-year high of $202.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $189.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.50.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.12%.

Badger Meter Profile

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.