Farrow Financial Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Farrow Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Badger Meter comprises approximately 2.7% of Farrow Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Farrow Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Badger Meter worth $4,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 22,707 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 15.1% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,218,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at $4,369,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter valued at $1,726,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,505. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.4 %

BMI stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $202.03. The company had a trading volume of 144,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,351. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 58.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $210.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.35. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.37 and a fifty-two week high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

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.