Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $230.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.00.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $181.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $199.94 and a 200 day moving average of $212.72. Badger Meter has a one year low of $162.17 and a one year high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.Badger Meter’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 34.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $478,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $159,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $1,524,000. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $3,304,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Badger Meter by 7.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 100,435 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $24,602,000 after buying an additional 7,184 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.