Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Stifel Nicolaus

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

BMI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.38.

Badger Meter Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:BMI opened at $132.01 on Monday. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $112.09 and a 12 month high of $193.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 18.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.50 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 41.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Edward Callahan purchased 751 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at $261,979.25. The trade was a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the 1st quarter worth about $1,447,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the second quarter worth approximately $68,344,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $725,926,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,298,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in Badger Meter by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 20,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc is a water technology company that develops and manufactures flow measurement, control and communications solutions. Its products are used to measure and manage water across municipal, commercial and industrial applications, helping customers improve operational efficiency, monitor usage and support water conservation.

The company’s offerings include mechanical, ultrasonic and electromagnetic flow meters; valves and related flow-control equipment; and smart water technologies.