Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI traded up $25.48 during trading on Thursday, hitting $178.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 696,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,892. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 56.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $119.02 and a fifty-two week high of $179.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $156.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.37.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.39%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Badger Meter by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,667 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $9,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 248.2% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,992 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 214.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,829,000 after acquiring an additional 34,607 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,651,786 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $563,726,000 after acquiring an additional 37,517 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Northcoast Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

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.