Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BMI. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $184.20.

Badger Meter Stock Down 3.8 %

BMI traded down $7.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $194.39. 38,749 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 182,725. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $134.06 and a fifty-two week high of $210.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.29, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $192.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.04.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 2,633.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 8,666.7% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 520 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.