Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Given New $207.00 Price Target at Maxim Group

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective increased by Maxim Group from $190.00 to $207.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BMI. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BMI opened at $176.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.56. Badger Meter has a 1-year low of $126.66 and a 1-year high of $181.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 34.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.