Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Stock Position Boosted by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 727,797 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 153,320 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $89,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMI. XXEC Inc. purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter worth approximately $825,029,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the second quarter worth approximately $725,926,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 590,079 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,595,000 after acquiring an additional 131,016 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 560,356 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,370,000 after acquiring an additional 198,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 540,272 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $82,305,000 after purchasing an additional 29,623 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $168.00 target price on Badger Meter in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Northcoast Research cut Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.33.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $159.20 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.75. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.09 and a 12-month high of $192.28. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.63.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $230.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.35 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.65%.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, Inc is a Milwaukee-based manufacturer of products and systems used to measure and manage water and other fluid flows. Founded in 1905, the company serves municipal water utilities as well as commercial and industrial customers.

Its offerings include water meters, flow instrumentation and related communications technology that helps customers collect and analyze usage data. Badger Meter also provides water quality monitoring equipment and software for tracking water system performance and supporting operational decisions.

The company serves customers in North America and international markets through its sales and distribution networks.