Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Stock Falls 6% on Analyst Downgrade

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) shares fell 6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Northcoast Research downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The company traded as low as $151.05 and last traded at $146.5220. Approximately 45,084 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 478,413 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.95.

Several other analysts have also commented on BMI. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up from $162.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. 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, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, VP Edward Callahan acquired 751 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $101,572.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at $261,979.25. This trade represents a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,447,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the second quarter valued at approximately $68,344,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the second quarter valued at approximately $725,926,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 66.7% in the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 20,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,298,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $131.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.64.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $230.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.35 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 14.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 40.65%.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc is a water technology company that develops and manufactures flow measurement, control and communications solutions. Its products are used to measure and manage water across municipal, commercial and industrial applications, helping customers improve operational efficiency, monitor usage and support water conservation.

The company’s offerings include mechanical, ultrasonic and electromagnetic flow meters; valves and related flow-control equipment; and smart water technologies.