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

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $225.20.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of Badger Meter stock traded up $1.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $192.18. The stock had a trading volume of 52,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 231,180. The business has a fifty day moving average of $208.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.62. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $151.18 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.43, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 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 $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $169,448,000 after buying an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $106,261,000 after buying an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $91,884,000 after buying an additional 17,060 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.