Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS.

Badger Meter Trading Up 16.7 %

NYSE BMI opened at $178.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.37. Badger Meter has a 1 year low of $119.02 and a 1 year high of $179.51.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 34.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BMI. StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 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. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,991,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $497,681,000 after acquiring an additional 28,050 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,651,786 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $563,726,000 after acquiring an additional 37,517 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,097,093 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $193,750,000 after acquiring an additional 26,896 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 591,793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $72,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 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.