Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Given New $207.00 Price Target at Maxim Group

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective upped by Maxim Group from $190.00 to $207.00 in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BMI. StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

BMI stock opened at $176.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.56. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $126.66 and a fifty-two week high of $181.00. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The business had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.39%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter during the first quarter valued at $484,000. River Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.9% during the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.8% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 21,082 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.