Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Invests $716,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,825 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BMI. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the second quarter worth $658,000. D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter worth $629,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,142,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,304,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,417,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, VP Edward F. Callahan acquired 751 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $101,572.75. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 1,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,979.25. This represents a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $135.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $137.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.98. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.09 and a 1 year high of $204.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $220.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 41.12%.

Badger Meter Profile

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.