Comerica Bank Sells 191 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Comerica Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,405 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BMI. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 162.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $240.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.80.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of BMI stock opened at $229.09 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.16, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $200.23 and a 200-day moving average of $210.15.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.