Paloma Partners Management Co Acquires Shares of 1,700 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1,016.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BMI shares. 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $220.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $215.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.32. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.50 and a 1-year high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.