Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.27

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the scientific and technical instruments company on Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%.

Badger Meter has increased its dividend by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $185.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $160.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 53.52, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter has a 52 week low of $130.75 and a 52 week high of $187.41.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The business had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other 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 transaction of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.80.

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.