State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,989 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 7.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,938 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 33.4% in the first 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. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,369,000. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,726,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $223.59 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $230.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.