Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 1,304 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.08% of Badger Meter worth $5,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMI. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 2,633.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 6.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 32,474 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 86.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 62,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,157,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $221.00 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.50 and a 12 month high of $230.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $215.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $201.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. 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.