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

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $175.75.

Several brokerages have commented on BMI. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.6 %

Badger Meter stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $202.80. 35,194 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 181,465. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.40. Badger Meter has a one year low of $134.06 and a one year high of $204.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 58.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 31.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BMI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,359,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Badger Meter by 851.3% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 126,707 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $61,380,000 after buying an additional 100,304 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,127,000 after acquiring an additional 74,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $10,360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.