Analysts Set Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Target Price at $216.00

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $216.00.

BMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $220.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $139.50 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $216.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.27.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter worth $577,000. Geneva Partners LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter worth $1,120,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 72.3% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 19,783 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 8,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 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.