Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives $229.80 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.80.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BMI shares. Raymond James assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at $94,547,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the first quarter worth $65,448,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,715,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 5,897.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $49,917,000 after acquiring an additional 231,398 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 21,179.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $31,779,000 after acquiring an additional 166,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of BMI stock traded down $2.22 on Friday, reaching $242.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 165,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,398. The company has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.31, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.85. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $162.17 and a 12-month high of $256.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $226.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.04.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The business had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Badger Meter's payout ratio is 29.96%.

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.