Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 8th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the scientific and technical instruments company on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%.

Badger Meter has raised its dividend by an average of 12.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Badger Meter has a payout ratio of 27.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Badger Meter to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.1%.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $223.47 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.45, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter has a one year low of $139.50 and a one year high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,505. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% 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.