Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys New Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,532 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $385,000. Geneva Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,120,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 68.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,526 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Stock Down 3.7 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $210.14 on Monday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.87 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.23.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 32.15%.

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.