Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT Invests $705,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,324 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.9 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $215.81 on Tuesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.50 and a 52 week high of $239.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $217.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.28. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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 objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

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.