Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 23,546 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 26.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 66,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 23,546 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $12,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 22,707 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,069,000. Cim LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $1,550,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,218,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake 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 buying an additional 74,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.20.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $216.24 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.23. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.06 and a 1 year high of $220.25. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

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.