Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) to a moderate buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BMI. Maxim Group increased their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.4 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $193.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter has a 12-month low of $151.18 and a 12-month high of $239.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.51.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $814,939,000 after buying an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $169,448,000 after acquiring an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $106,261,000 after acquiring an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $91,884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares during the last quarter. 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.