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

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $214.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Argus raised their price target on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,622,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,974,000 after purchasing an additional 51,318 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 86.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 100,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $18,782,000 after purchasing an additional 46,650 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,499,000 after purchasing an additional 40,400 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 80.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 78,914 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,706,000 after acquiring an additional 35,150 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $204.87 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.63. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.04, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $136.31 and a 12-month high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $208.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

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.