Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) to a moderate buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BMI opened at $189.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $208.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.49. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,162,280.60. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $74,322,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $369,000. 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.