Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Sets New 52-Week High at $174.88

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $174.88 and last traded at $171.21, with a volume of 85084 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $153.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.50.

Badger Meter Stock Up 12.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.37.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The firm had revenue of $182.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,367.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the third quarter worth about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.