Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Reaches New 52-Week High at $191.50

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $191.50 and last traded at $190.35, with a volume of 9726 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $189.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.80.

Badger Meter Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 55.27, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.82.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the business’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 directly owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 worth $448,167 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,651,786 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $563,726,000 after acquiring an additional 37,517 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,305 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $147,367,000 after buying an additional 80,979 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after buying an additional 100,304 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 363,243 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $52,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,127,000 after acquiring an additional 74,578 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is 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.