Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Sets New 52-Week High at $174.88

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $174.88 and last traded at $171.21, with a volume of 85084 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $153.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.50.

Badger Meter Trading Up 12.3 %

The company’s 50 day moving average is $156.77 and its 200-day moving average is $150.37. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $182.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.24 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total transaction of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,328.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,603 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 3.0% in the first quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.3% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,262 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Company Profile

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.