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

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $216.00.

BMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 805 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 636.4% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $218.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.21, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $216.98 and its 200 day moving average is $205.61. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $139.50 and a 12 month high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

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.