Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Kenneth Bockhorst Sells 16,073 Shares of Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Kenneth Bockhorst also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 3rd, Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of Badger Meter stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $247,131.45.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $212.68 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $150.87 and a one year high of $239.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $213.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 5,897.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,917,000 after buying an additional 231,398 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 256,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,350,000 after buying an additional 166,191 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $20,586,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 182,382 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,687,000 after buying an additional 95,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.