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

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

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

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:BMI traded down $3.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $202.28. 191,967 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,739. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $134.06 and a twelve month high of $210.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $192.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.04. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.29, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

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.