Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.34

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the scientific and technical instruments company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%.

Badger Meter has increased its dividend by an average of 17.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Badger Meter has a payout ratio of 24.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Badger Meter to earn $5.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:BMI traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $218.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,933. Badger Meter has a 1 year low of $150.87 and a 1 year high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 51.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $216.60 and a 200-day moving average of $212.46.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BMI shares. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $218.75.

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.