Everence Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,520 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co of the South acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $394,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 14.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,317 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 9.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 348.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,034,000 after buying an additional 42,806 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $213.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.76. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 52.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.50 and a 1-year high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results 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). Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.