Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $164.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on BMI. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $167.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $112.00 price objective (up from $109.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Edward Callahan purchased 751 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $101,572.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 1,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $261,979.25. The trade was a 63.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BMI. Amundi grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 590,079 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,595,000 after acquiring an additional 131,016 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,103,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 14,467.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,980,820 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $739,054,000 after buying an additional 4,946,629 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 20,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,773,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of BMI stock opened at $132.14 on Friday. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $112.09 and a twelve month high of $204.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.65.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $220.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 41.12%.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.