Brokerages Set Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) PT at $227.33

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $227.3333.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $208.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 price target on Badger Meter and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $185.58 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.95. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.88 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 21.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 1st quarter valued at $65,448,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,548,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at about $44,715,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 108.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 342,099 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,797,000 after buying an additional 177,781 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 27.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $196,491,000 after buying an additional 171,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.