Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $218.75.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in Badger Meter by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Badger Meter by 1.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Badger Meter by 4.5% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Badger Meter by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $216.43. 187,948 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 215,335. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 51.16, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $147.96 and a twelve month high of $239.11. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $217.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.03.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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.