Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Badger Meter, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from five analysts, with three recommending to hold and two suggesting a buy.
• Recent price targets for Badger Meter's stock vary, with Royal Bank Of Canada reducing its target to $264.00 and Argus setting a target of $240.00.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report indicated an EPS of $1.17, slightly missing estimates, though revenue increased by 9.9% year-over-year.

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $238.40.

Several analysts recently commented on BMI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Argus set a $240.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE BMI traded up $4.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $185.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 344,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,432. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $233.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.42. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $256.08. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 22.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,731 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter worth approximately $369,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 5,945 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Company Profile

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.