Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $225.20.

Several research firms have commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $814,939,000 after buying an additional 44,839 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $169,448,000 after purchasing an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $106,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $91,884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE BMI opened at $189.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $208.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.62.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.15%.

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.