Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $218.75.

BMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.5% in the 3rd 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. Burney Co. purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,120,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 29.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $212.68 on Wednesday. Badger Meter has a one year low of $150.87 and a one year high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.02.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

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.