Semanteon Capital Management LP Invests $1.20 Million in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,745 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,196,000. Badger Meter accounts for 0.8% of Semanteon Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Alliance acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Badger Meter by 851.3% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,585,000 after buying an additional 126,707 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Badger Meter by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,617,000 after buying an additional 58,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,230,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.80.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE:BMI traded up $0.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $183.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 246,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,386. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.93 and a 12 month high of $187.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.41 and a 200-day moving average of $151.94.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 31.12%.

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.