Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Given New $196.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $209.00 to $196.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 5.48% from the company’s current price.

BMI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.60.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $185.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $199.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.64. Badger Meter has a twelve month low of $151.50 and a twelve month high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 636.4% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 348.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,034,000 after acquiring an additional 42,806 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 9.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Badger Meter by 4.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 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.