Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

BMI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.9 %

Badger Meter stock traded down $3.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $202.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 191,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,739. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $134.06 and a 12 month high of $210.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $192.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.04. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 58.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $216.70 million during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after buying an additional 22,707 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Badger Meter by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,304 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $62,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,160 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,127,000 after purchasing an additional 74,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.