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

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $214.75.

BMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2,633.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 40.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $216.82 on Monday. Badger Meter has a one year low of $139.50 and a one year high of $230.76. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 53.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $215.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.76.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.75%.

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.