Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) to a moderate buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $189.86 on Wednesday. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $151.18 and a 12-month high of $239.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $208.55 and a 200-day moving average of $213.49. The stock has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. Equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.