Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Price Target Lowered to $196.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $209.00 to $196.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.60.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $184.54 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $199.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.46. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.63, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $152.52 and a 12-month high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.