Bessemer Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 107.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 145,783 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 75,415 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $26,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,462,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $358,315,000 after purchasing an additional 20,122 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $215,464,000 after buying an additional 19,340 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $196,491,000 after acquiring an additional 171,275 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 78.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 612,809 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $150,108,000 after acquiring an additional 268,799 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Badger Meter by 108.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 342,099 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,797,000 after purchasing an additional 177,781 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Badger Meter from $232.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.88.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $150.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.90. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.14 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $220.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.30 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.