Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Sells $247,131.45 in Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.22. The company had a trading volume of 351,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,616. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $213.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.87. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.87 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 32.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Badger Meter by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,120,000. JB Capital LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Badger Meter

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.