Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives $237.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $237.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BMI. Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% during the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 8,739 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.1% in the second quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,775 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.6% in the second quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 27.3% in the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $179.89 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.58. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.90. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $235.38 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 34.86%.

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.