Dudley & Shanley Inc. Boosts Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 34.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 84,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,600 shares during the period. Badger Meter accounts for about 1.7% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $10,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,447,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter worth $68,344,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the second quarter worth $725,926,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 20,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,646,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Edward Callahan bought 751 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $101,572.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,979.25. This represents a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $148.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.00.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, hitting $124.58. 67,847 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,450. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.29. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.09 and a 52 week high of $204.00. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.64.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%.The business had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.12%.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of flow measurement, control and communications solutions. The company primarily serves the water industry, providing technologies that help utilities and other customers measure, manage and monitor the use and movement of water.

Its products include ultrasonic, electromagnetic and mechanical water meters, as well as flow instrumentation and related control equipment. Badger Meter also offers advanced metering infrastructure and remote monitoring solutions, including its ORION and BEACON platforms, which support automated meter reading, data collection, leak detection and utility management.

Founded in 1905, Badger Meter serves municipal water utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and other water-related markets in North America and internationally.