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

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $216.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,866,000 after purchasing an additional 19,848 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Badger Meter by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after buying an additional 22,160 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 331,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $72,462,000 after buying an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 295,027 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $64,437,000 after buying an additional 7,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 66.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,974,000 after acquiring an additional 51,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.0 %

BMI stock opened at $219.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.60. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $139.50 and a 12-month high of $239.11. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its 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). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The business had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio 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.