Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock Has Average Target Price of $165.88 According to Analysts

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $166.33.

Several brokerages have recently commented on BMI. Argus upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Northcoast Research lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $175.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Friday, October 23rd.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $148.02 on Monday. Badger Meter has a 1 year low of $112.09 and a 1 year high of $192.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.10.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $230.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.35 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 14.36%. Badger Meter’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. 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 payout ratio is 40.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 1st quarter valued at $1,447,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth $68,344,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth $725,926,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth $2,298,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,773,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Company Profile

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.