Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $5.13 Million Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,501 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,817 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Badger Meter worth $5,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $61,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,304 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,160 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,127,000 after purchasing an additional 74,578 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $203.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.43 and a 200-day moving average of $183.86. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.06 and a 1-year high of $210.29. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 58.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Company 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.