HTLF Bank Makes New $201,000 Investment in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,991,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $497,681,000 after acquiring an additional 28,050 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,614,269 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $519,985,000 after acquiring an additional 27,763 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Badger Meter by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,097,093 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $193,750,000 after acquiring an additional 26,896 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,305 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $147,367,000 after acquiring an additional 80,979 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Badger Meter by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 591,793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $72,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.50.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $176.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.95, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.80. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.66 and a twelve month high of $181.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 31.12%.

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.