Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Makes New $213,000 Investment in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,747 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 729 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter worth approximately $91,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 124.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 852 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Badger Meter by 563.7% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $142.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price target on Badger Meter from $152.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, Director Todd A. Adams sold 2,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.64, for a total transaction of $427,255.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $161.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 61.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.87. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.16 and a 52-week high of $170.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.04.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The company had revenue of $175.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

Badger Meter Profile

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and internationally. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities.