US Bancorp DE Has $6.31 Million Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 827 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $6,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 295,027 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $64,437,000 after purchasing an additional 7,967 shares in the last quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 6.3% during the third quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 12,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the third quarter worth about $262,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,869 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,650,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares during the period. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $201.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.12, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.96 and a 52 week high of $230.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $210.05 and a 200-day moving average of $198.66.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.