Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Announces Earnings Results

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $220.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.30 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Badger Meter’s conference call:

• Delivered a strong 2025: 11% sales growth surpassing $900M, operating margin expanded to ~20%, EPS up 10%, record quarterly free cash flow of $50.8M, and a clean balance sheet with >$225M cash supporting dividends and opportunistic buybacks.
• Successfully integrated SmartCover ( ~$40M in 2025), improving profitability and moving manufacturing to Racine; software revenue now >$74M (8% of sales) with software growing at a ~28% CAGR and SmartCover expected to be earnings-accretive in 2026.
• Awarded the large Puerto Rico AMI contract (~1.6 million service connections) on a supply-only basis with multiyear deployment expected; management will not quantify near-term 2026 revenue from this program due to many timing variables.
• Management emphasized ongoing “project pacing” volatility that drove a sequential sales decline in 4Q and expects a lower-growth H1 2026 followed by stronger H2, highlighting lumpy quarter-to-quarter results despite multi-year organic growth confidence.
• Gross-margin risks remain heading into 2026 from fluid tariff/trade conditions and elevated copper/ingot costs despite reaching price parity on 2025 tariffs; company guides a normalized gross-margin range of 39%–42% and will use routine price mitigation actions.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI opened at $146.29 on Thursday. Badger Meter has a 1 year low of $139.14 and a 1 year high of $256.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $175.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.87.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at about $565,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the third quarter valued at approximately $967,000. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 21.2% in the third quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,610 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,967,000 after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.2% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 37,210 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,582,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the third quarter worth $1,245,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Badger Meter

Here are the key news stories impacting Badger Meter this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Operating profit and margins improved: operating earnings rose ~10% year-over-year and operating margins widened to ~19.5%, supporting better bottom-line leverage. Q4 & Full-Year 2025 Results (Business Wire)
• Positive Sentiment: Balance sheet, cash flow and capital returns remain strengths: company highlights strong free-cash-flow conversion, no meaningful debt, ongoing buybacks and a dividend policy that supports shareholder returns. Institutional buyers have been accumulating after the sell-off. Institutional Buying & Valuation (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed long-term targets: guidance and commentary emphasize high-single-digit revenue growth, margin expansion and multi-year earnings/cash-flow growth that underpins the company’s longer-term outlook. Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: EPS was essentially in line: reported $1.14 EPS (up from $1.04 year-ago) — roughly matching the consensus used by some outlets, though small estimate differences existed across services. Q4 Snapshot (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Top-line weakness and a revenue miss drove the sell-off: total sales grew ~8% to $220.7M but base sales growth slowed and revenue came in below some analysts’ expectations, which the market punished. Why BMI Is Sinking Today (Motley Fool)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst estimate quirks added negative optics: some services flagged a slight EPS/revenue shortfall versus their consensus (e.g., Zacks noted a $0.01 EPS miss and flagged revenue/earnings lag). This amplified negative trading despite underlying margin gains. Q4 Lagged Some Estimates (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Immediate market reaction: the combination of slower sales growth, the miss vs. some expectations and modest analyst disappointment produced a sharp, high‑volume decline as traders re-priced near-term growth prospects. Market Reaction (Yahoo Finance)

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Friday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.25.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.