BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 16,670 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 35.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,730 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 16,670 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.10% of Badger Meter worth $6,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 40.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 29.0% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,142 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 2,956 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Farrow Financial Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 0.4% during the second quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI opened at $220.42 on Tuesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.50 and a fifty-two week high of $230.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $215.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.69, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.