U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMI. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 851.3% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 126,707 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $147,367,000 after purchasing an additional 80,979 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,617,000 after purchasing an additional 58,941 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 333.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 61,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,417,000 after purchasing an additional 46,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 355.1% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 57,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 45,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.80.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $189.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.07. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.06 and a 1-year high of $190.39.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.12%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.