JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) Stock Price

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $235.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.60% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BMI. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.17.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $175.90 on Monday. Badger Meter has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.00.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The firm had revenue of $235.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,960,308 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $707,232,000 after purchasing an additional 145,389 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,462,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $358,315,000 after buying an additional 20,122 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 20.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,219 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $173,262,000 after buying an additional 168,053 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $215,464,000 after buying an additional 19,340 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 78.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 612,809 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $150,108,000 after buying an additional 268,799 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently 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.