Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%.

Badger Meter Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of BMI stock traded up $7.11 on Friday, reaching $215.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 218,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,587. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.80, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $139.50 and a 12-month high of $239.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.99.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BMI shares. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.00.

Badger Meter Company 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.