Amundi Purchases 8,531 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Amundi lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,338 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,531 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $48,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $227,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 45,478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,596 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $120,027,000 after buying an additional 129,945 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter worth approximately $447,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,715,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 price objective on Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.17.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $175.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $256.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The firm had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.04%.

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.