Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Price Target Raised to $175.00

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $147.00 to $175.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BMI. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $162.50.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $176.68 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 50.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 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 (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 31.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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 have sold 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.