Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Upgraded at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $215.00 price objective on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $208.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price target on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.33.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.5%

BMI stock opened at $187.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.90. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $256.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.66.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.88 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 5.6% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,941 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 6.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the third quarter valued at $250,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the third quarter valued at $549,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 67.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,703 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,091 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.