Royal Bank of Canada Upgrades Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) to Moderate Buy

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) was upgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

BMI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.20.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BMI stock opened at $193.18 on Wednesday. Badger Meter has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.51.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $247,131.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. The trade was a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $814,939,000 after acquiring an additional 44,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $169,448,000 after purchasing an additional 17,873 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $106,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $91,884,000 after buying an additional 17,060 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.