Badger Meter Doubles Revenue Through Smart Water Management Innovations

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

BMI+0.29%

Source: Fool

Updated: 11h ago

0mins

Source: Fool

Significant Revenue Growth: Since 2020, Badger Meter has doubled its revenue, achieving an average annual increase of 28%, indicating a rising market acceptance of its smart water solutions, which strengthens the company's leadership in water management.
Return on Tech Investment: By upgrading its technology, Badger's operating profit margin has risen from 15% in 2019 to nearly 20%, which not only enhances financial efficiency but also reduces capital requirements for acquiring new customers, boosting profitability.
Strong Cash Flow: Earnings have nearly tripled since 2019, generating impressive free cash flow that supports internal investments and strategic acquisitions, further solidifying the company's market position.
Increased Shareholder Returns: Badger's dividends per share have doubled since 2022, reflecting the company's commitment to rewarding shareholders while experiencing rapid growth, thereby enhancing investor confidence.

BMI

$174.61+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on BMI

Wall Street analysts forecast BMI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for BMI is 226.40 USD with a low forecast of 205.00 USD and a high forecast of 243.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

5 Analyst Rating

4 Buy

1 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 174.100

Low

205.00

Averages

226.40

High

243.00

Current: 174.100

Low

205.00

Averages

226.40

High

243.00

Barclays

William Grippin

Underweight

initiated

$157

2026-01-07

New

Reason

Barclays

William Grippin

Price Target

$157

2026-01-07

New

initiated

Underweight

Reason

Barclays analyst William Grippin initiated coverage of Badger Meter with an Underweight rating and $157 price target. The firm says Badger is a "solid company with a difficult setup." The stock's premium valuation among the water technology group creates a poor risk/reward, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Barclays sees decelerating growth for the company due to a maturing market and utility funding constraints.

Jefferies

initiated

$220

2025-12-12

Reason

Jefferies

Price Target

$220

2025-12-12

initiated

Reason

Jefferies initiated coverage of Badger Meter with a Buy rating and $220 price target. Badger Meter is a leader in smart water metering and the recent slowdown in growth is due to tough comps and a higher base, not reflective of a demand slowdown, the analyst tells investors. The recent pullback provides "an attractive entry point for the name that compounds HSD organic growth," the analyst added.

JPMorgan

Overweight

downgrade

$240 -> $235

2025-12-08

Reason

JPMorgan

Price Target

$240 -> $235

2025-12-08

downgrade

Overweight

Reason

JPMorgan lowered the firm's price target on Badger Meter to $235 from $240 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm adjusted ratings and targets in the clean energy space as part of its 2026 outlook. Within renewables, JPMorgan expects another year of outperformance for the utility-scale market, though it expects a trend towards larger, more complex projects as well as a more complex regulatory environment to lead to consolidation of upstream and downstream providers. The analyst maintains a preference for stocks with significant exposure to U.S.-based manufacturing, diversified end markets, and strong balance sheets.

RBC Capital

Jeffrey Reive

Outperform

downgrade

$264 -> $229

2025-10-22

Reason

RBC Capital

Jeffrey Reive

Price Target

$264 -> $229

2025-10-22

downgrade

Outperform

Reason

RBC Capital analyst Jeffrey Reive lowered the firm's price target on Badger Meter to $229 from $264 but keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The company reported a modestly better-than-expected Q3 with topline playing out mostly as expected, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Badger Meter's other positives included 8% organic growth, 6% sequential growth at SmartCover, core incrementals of 26%, free cash flow conversion of 136%, and an increased gross margin target to 39%-42%, the firm added, noting that with nothing overly concerning in the results, the decline was more likely due to its elevated short-interest and positioning.

About BMI

Badger Meter, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of products incorporating flow measurement, quality, control and other system solutions serving markets worldwide. Its offerings, marketed as BlueEdge, include a suite of tailorable solutions that connect water management technology, software and support services to deliver insights enabling the proactive management of water across the water cycle. Its solutions include measurement and control hardware, connectivity and communication, data visualization and software-delivered actionable insights, and ongoing support to optimize customers' operations. Its measurement and control hardware, instruments and sensors include product families, such as meters that measure the flow of water and other fluids, water quality monitoring solutions and high frequency pressure and acoustic leak detection hardware that provides real-time monitoring data. It offers a range of communication solutions including the ORION branded family of radio endpoints.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.