Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Purchased by Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,753 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BMI. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $215,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,340 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $120,027,000 after purchasing an additional 129,945 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 407,059 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $99,709,000 after buying an additional 8,471 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the first quarter valued at about $65,448,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 305,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $58,034,000 after buying an additional 8,345 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price target on Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $208.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $168.08 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $179.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The business had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.