Monument Capital Management Sells 74 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Monument Capital Management lowered its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Monument Capital Management owned about 0.05% of Badger Meter worth $3,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

BMI stock opened at $217.01 on Monday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.87 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $216.82 and its 200 day moving average is $212.36.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

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.