Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $226.15 and last traded at $225.87, with a volume of 5268 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $224.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMI. StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Argus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $200.25.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 64.85, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $204.87 and a 200-day moving average of $191.44.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

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 stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at $791,505. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $594,570,000 after purchasing an additional 22,707 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $61,380,000 after acquiring an additional 100,304 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,160 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 278,606 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $45,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,817 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 160,359 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,948,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.