Brokerages Set Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Target Price at $216.00

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $216.00.

BMI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter worth approximately $10,622,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,974,000 after buying an additional 51,318 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 86.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 100,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $18,782,000 after buying an additional 46,650 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 348.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,034,000 after acquiring an additional 42,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 47.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,499,000 after acquiring an additional 40,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI opened at $217.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $216.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.06. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $139.50 and a 1-year high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.