Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

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

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

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position 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 valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5.0% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $206.62 on Tuesday. Badger Meter has a one year low of $139.50 and a one year high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 51.27, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $219.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.06.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.