Brokerages Set Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Price Target at $155.86

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $155.8571.

Several analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $141.04 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.68. Badger Meter has a one year low of $112.09 and a one year high of $249.56.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $220.71 million for the quarter. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 14.56%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other news, VP Richard Htwe acquired 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $116.13 per share, with a total value of $197,421.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 7,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,936.39. This represents a 28.80% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Edward F. Callahan acquired 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $116.30 per share, with a total value of $99,785.40. Following the acquisition, the vice president owned 1,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,931.80. This represents a 261.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 6,628 shares of company stock valued at $777,128. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,979,893 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $694,133,000 after purchasing an additional 19,585 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Badger Meter by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,462,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $358,315,000 after purchasing an additional 20,122 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Badger Meter by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,219 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $173,262,000 after purchasing an additional 168,053 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,854 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $152,951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 754,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $131,592,000 after acquiring an additional 212,448 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.