ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 950 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after buying an additional 100,304 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Badger Meter by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,160 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its position in Badger Meter by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 278,606 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $45,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 160,359 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,948,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $225.90. 17,810 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 173,197. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $206.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.40. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.06 and a 52-week high of $230.76. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 35.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.25.

Insider Activity

In other Badger Meter news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.