Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Announces Earnings Results

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.0 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $176.68 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $126.66 and a 12-month high of $181.00.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 31.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,667 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,521,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 248.2% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,992 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 214.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,829,000 after purchasing an additional 34,607 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $563,726,000 after purchasing an additional 37,517 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.50.

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.