Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Badger Meter to “sell” from “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with a $161.88 target price.
• Badger Meter opened at $126.61, below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, after reporting quarterly EPS of $1.02 that narrowly beat estimates; revenue fell 6.6% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company, and Vice President Edward Callahan recently purchased 751 shares at an average price of $135.25.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BMI. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Badger Meter from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.88.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI opened at $126.61 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $130.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.02. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $112.09 and a 1-year high of $204.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.64.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $220.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 18.03%. Badger Meter's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Edward Callahan purchased 751 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $101,572.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,979.25. The trade was a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. XXEC Inc. acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the second quarter worth $825,029,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at $725,926,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at $68,344,000. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at $38,318,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at $31,346,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

About Badger Meter

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.

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