Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.22 EPS

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22, RTT News reports. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $194.67 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $199.10 and a 200 day moving average of $210.46. Badger Meter has a 52-week low of $152.52 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 44.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 32.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Maxim Group boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $222.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value of $508,157.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Badger Meter stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,068 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.