Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Earns Market Perform Rating from Analysts at Raymond James

Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a market perform rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on BMI. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus set a $240.00 price objective on Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.80.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $248.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $218.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.87. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 58.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its position in Badger Meter by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 8,739 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.