Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. 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 firm posted $0.66 EPS.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BMI opened at $176.68 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.56. The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $126.66 and a 1-year high of $181.00.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.27 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 34.39%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 434.2% in the 1st quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 372,468 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,372,000 after purchasing an additional 302,742 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $30,460,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 10.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,070,197 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $167,458,000 after buying an additional 198,228 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 129.1% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 250,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $20,254,000 after buying an additional 141,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 116.1% during the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 179,130 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,432,000 after buying an additional 96,239 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BMI. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.