Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Given New $216.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its target price reduced by Robert W. Baird from $218.00 to $216.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.40.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.5 %

BMI opened at $200.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $198.26 and a 200 day moving average of $209.94. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 47.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $814,939,000 after purchasing an additional 44,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $169,448,000 after acquiring an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $106,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,719 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $91,884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.