Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives $200.25 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $200.25.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus increased 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, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $226.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $205.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $134.06 and a 12-month high of $226.90.

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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $224,885.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 592.1% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 10,521 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $730,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $1,069,000. RMB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 153.8% in the fourth quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC now owns 38,231 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,902,000 after buying an additional 23,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $1,550,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.