Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $162.00 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Twelve analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Badger Meter, with six buys, five holds and one sell. Their average 12-month price target is $162, above the reported share price of $123.89.
• Badger Meter slightly exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.02 versus the $1.01 consensus, although revenue fell 6.6% year over year to $220.3 million and missed estimates marginally.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.44 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $1.76 and a 1.4% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 89% of the stock.

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $162.00.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $167.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $112.00 target price (up from $109.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Badger Meter from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, 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.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $123.89 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.78. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $112.09 and a fifty-two week high of $204.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $220.30 million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Badger Meter's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is 41.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Edward Callahan purchased 751 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $101,572.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $261,979.25. This trade represents a 63.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMI. XXEC Inc. purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $825,029,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $725,926,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $83,819,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,344,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,318,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.