Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $162.00

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $162.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price objective on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Edward Callahan bought 751 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $101,572.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,979.25. The trade was a 63.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. XXEC Inc. acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $825,029,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter worth $725,926,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $152,951,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Badger Meter by 28.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 590,079 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,595,000 after buying an additional 131,016 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 54.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 560,356 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,370,000 after buying an additional 198,430 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $127.42 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.60. Badger Meter has a 52-week low of $112.09 and a 52-week high of $204.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.64.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%.The company had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.12%.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of flow measurement, control and communications solutions. The company primarily serves the water industry, providing technologies that help utilities and other customers measure, manage and monitor the use and movement of water.

Its products include ultrasonic, electromagnetic and mechanical water meters, as well as flow instrumentation and related control equipment. Badger Meter also offers advanced metering infrastructure and remote monitoring solutions, including its ORION and BEACON platforms, which support automated meter reading, data collection, leak detection and utility management.

Founded in 1905, Badger Meter serves municipal water utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and other water-related markets in North America and internationally.