Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Hits New 52-Week High at $187.41

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $187.41 and last traded at $186.34, with a volume of 18565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BMI. StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.12, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.50.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Wealth Alliance acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 126,707 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,617,000 after buying an additional 58,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the third quarter worth $2,230,000. Institutional investors 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.