Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Shares Up 6.5% After Strong Earnings

Key Points

• Badger Meter's stock surged 6.5% following a strong earnings report, with earnings per share of $1.19 surpassing estimates by $0.08 and revenue reaching $235.65 million.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.40 per share, enhancing its annualized dividend to $1.60 and representing a yield of 0.9%.
• Analyst ratings varied, with several firms upgrading their targets, including Stifel Nicolaus, which raised its price objective from $208.00 to $215.00, highlighting a generally positive outlook.

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 6.5% during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $193.06 and last traded at $188.85. 158,368 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 299,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.35.

The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The firm had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.88 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BMI. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut Badger Meter from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Badger Meter from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 price objective on Badger Meter and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Badger Meter by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,462,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $358,315,000 after buying an additional 20,122 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $215,464,000 after buying an additional 19,340 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $196,491,000 after buying an additional 171,275 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Badger Meter by 78.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 612,809 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $150,108,000 after buying an additional 268,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 407,059 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $99,709,000 after buying an additional 8,471 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Up 6.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $180.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.63.

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.

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