Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives $218.75 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $218.75.

A number of research firms have commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group raised their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $212.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $213.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.87. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $150.87 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of Badger Meter 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 $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMI. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.