Brokerages Set Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) PT at $214.75

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, 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 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $214.75.

BMI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Maxim Group lifted their price objective 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. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter 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 transaction of $224,885.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Badger Meter by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.5% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Farrow Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 2,401 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $201.98 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.03. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.12, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $137.96 and a 1-year high of $230.76.

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

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.