Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires 821 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 636.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BMI. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 51.7% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,723 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter worth $847,000. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter worth $3,373,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.00.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BMI opened at $217.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $216.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.50 and a 12-month high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.