Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Sets New 12-Month High on Strong Earnings

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $174.88 and last traded at $171.21, with a volume of 85084 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $153.00.

The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The company had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.50.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BMI. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,991,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $497,681,000 after acquiring an additional 28,050 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,651,786 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $563,726,000 after acquiring an additional 37,517 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Badger Meter by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,097,093 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $193,750,000 after acquiring an additional 26,896 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Badger Meter by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,305 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $147,367,000 after acquiring an additional 80,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 591,793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $72,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.56. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

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.