Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Reaches New 1-Year High at $219.85

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $219.85 and last traded at $219.85, with a volume of 7381 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $217.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BMI. Argus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $200.70 and its 200-day moving average is $186.64. The company has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 62.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $216.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Badger Meter news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $47,359,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,304 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,127,000 after acquiring an additional 74,578 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $10,360,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,622,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.