Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Upgraded to “Neutral” by Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI opened at $178.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.85, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year high of $179.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.37.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The business had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.9% during the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 29.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 7.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 7.8% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 21,082 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Finally, Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 39.6% during the first quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 15,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,484,000 after acquiring an additional 4,351 shares during the period. 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.