Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34 on December 6th

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 8th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the scientific and technical instruments company on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd.

Badger Meter has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Badger Meter has a payout ratio of 27.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Badger Meter to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.1%.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $210.97 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $214.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 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 business had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Maxim Group increased their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.75.

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.