Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Stock Dropped to “Sell” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price target on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $167.00 price objective on Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.88.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $126.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $130.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.64. Badger Meter has a 1 year low of $112.09 and a 1 year high of $204.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.50 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.12%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Edward Callahan purchased 751 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $101,572.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at $261,979.25. This represents a 63.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XXEC Inc. purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth $825,029,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter worth $725,926,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter worth $68,344,000. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $38,318,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at about $31,346,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, Inc is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of flow measurement, control and communications solutions. The company primarily serves the water industry, providing technologies that help utilities and other customers measure, manage and monitor the use and movement of water.

Its products include ultrasonic, electromagnetic and mechanical water meters, as well as flow instrumentation and related control equipment. Badger Meter also offers advanced metering infrastructure and remote monitoring solutions, including its ORION and BEACON platforms, which support automated meter reading, data collection, leak detection and utility management.

Founded in 1905, Badger Meter serves municipal water utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and other water-related markets in North America and internationally.