Aigen Investment Management LP Grows Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,497 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,622,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 66.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,974,000 after acquiring an additional 51,318 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 86.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 100,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $18,782,000 after acquiring an additional 46,650 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 47.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,499,000 after purchasing an additional 40,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 80.3% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 78,914 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,706,000 after purchasing an additional 35,150 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BMI. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE BMI opened at $225.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $230.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.46.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,505. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.