Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $218.75.

Several analysts have issued reports on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

BMI opened at $206.86 on Wednesday. Badger Meter has a 52-week low of $150.87 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.90, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.10.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.15%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. This trade represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cim LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,270,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth approximately $568,000. Finally, Palisades Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 33,951 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,202,000 after buying an additional 2,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.