Robert W. Baird Boosts Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Price Target to $180.00

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $151.00 to $180.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target points to a potential upside of 0.83% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.83.

Badger Meter Stock Up 16.7 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $178.51 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.37. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $119.02 and a twelve month high of $179.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 56.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. 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. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total transaction of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total transaction of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 851.3% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 126,707 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 33.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,617,000 after acquiring an additional 58,941 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the third quarter valued at $2,230,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 333.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 61,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,417,000 after acquiring an additional 46,924 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is 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.