StockNews.com Lowers Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BMI. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $164.80.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $186.47 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $184.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.46. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $134.06 and a 1-year high of $202.81. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.74, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.81.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMI. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,998 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 283,238 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,749,000 after purchasing an additional 17,732 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,084 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,550 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,823 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $20,116,000 after purchasing an additional 32,076 shares during the last quarter. 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.