Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) was upgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has a $215.00 target price on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 21.70% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BMI. Weiss Ratings cut Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.17.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $176.66 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $180.83 and a 200 day moving average of $208.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.90. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.88 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMI. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,462,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $358,315,000 after acquiring an additional 20,122 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $215,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,340 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 27.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $196,491,000 after acquiring an additional 171,275 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 78.1% in the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 612,809 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $150,108,000 after acquiring an additional 268,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.1% in the second quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 407,059 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $99,709,000 after acquiring an additional 8,471 shares in the last quarter. 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.