Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $176.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.56. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $126.66 and a twelve month high of $181.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,367.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,367.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 9.1% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 6.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 29,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,933,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 1st quarter worth approximately $291,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Maxim Group increased their price target on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.50.

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.