One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$216.52 our estimate vs market $134.40
Wall Street consensus: $147.00 (-32.1% lower than our fair-value estimate)
38% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Badger Meter, Inc.
BMI · NYQ · Technology · Scientific & Technical Instruments
Current price
$134.40
52-week range
$112.09 - $251.54
Market cap
$3.92B
Balance sheet
Healthy
35.80x Strong cushion
Net cash $205.45M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Returns 19.6% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Reward Dividend yield is 1.2% with 37-year payout history.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.6% (peer median: 1.0%).
What this company does
Badger Meter, Inc.
Badger Meter sells smart water meters and related software to water utility companies, helping them accurately measure and manage water flow to homes and businesses. The company makes money from these sales and increasingly from its software, which creates recurring revenue (predictable income from ongoing subscriptions, much like a streaming service bill). This is important because every community needs to manage its water, creating a steady and essential demand for Badger Meter's solutions.
How the company got here
Badger Meter was founded in 1905 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to solve a regional problem: water meters that would freeze and break during harsh winters. The company initially focused on making these durable "frost-proof" meters for homes. Over many decades, it grew by expanding its product line for different industries and acquiring other companies to add new technologies. A key turning point was the shift from simple mechanical meters to smart, electronic systems that can be read remotely and provide detailed data. This evolution transformed the company from just a hardware manufacturer into a technology provider for smart water management.
What it actually does
Badger Meter makes devices that measure and control the flow of liquids and gases through pipes. Think of the water meter on the side of your house; Badger Meter makes advanced versions of those for water utilities (the companies that provide your water). Their products help these utilities accurately bill customers, detect leaks, and manage their water systems more efficiently. Beyond just water, their instruments are also used in industries like food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and heating and cooling systems to precisely measure and control fluids in their processes.
Utility Water
This is Badger Meter's largest and most important business, making up the vast majority of its sales. It provides "smart water" solutions to municipal water utilities (your local water company). This includes not just the physical water meters, but also communication devices and software that allow the utility to read the meters remotely and analyze water usage data. The utility pays for this combination of hardware and software to improve billing accuracy, quickly find leaks, and operate more efficiently.
Flow Instrumentation
This is a smaller but still significant part of the company. It serves a wide range of industrial and commercial customers, not just water utilities. This segment sells specialized meters and valves that are used to measure and control the flow of various fluids like water, air, steam, and oil in different processes. For example, a beverage company might use these instruments to ensure the right amount of ingredients goes into every bottle, or an HVAC system might use them to control the flow of coolant.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on selling integrated "smart water" solutions rather than just meters. This involves bundling their advanced meters with software and data analytics services, which creates a more valuable and long-term relationship with utility customers. A major part of this strategy is pushing their BEACON software platform, which helps utilities analyze water data, and their ORION Cellular endpoints, which use existing cell networks to transmit that data. They are also expanding into monitoring water quality and pressure within the distribution pipes, moving beyond just measuring consumption at the end point.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$34.08M
FY2024 Q3
$41.96M
FY2024 Q4
$47.40M
FY2025 Q1
$30.06M
FY2025 Q2
$40.65M
FY2025 Q3
$48.20M
FY2025 Q4
$50.77M
FY2026 Q1
$29.47M
Revenue
$202.28M
Net income
$27.34M
Diluted EPS
0.93
Operating cash flow
$33.89M
Free cash flow
$29.47M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$220.71M
Net income
$33.58M
Diluted EPS
1.14
Operating cash flow
$54.80M
Free cash flow
$50.77M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$222.21M
Net income
$35.08M
Diluted EPS
1.19
Operating cash flow
$51.28M
Free cash flow
$48.20M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$238.09M
Net income
$34.58M
Diluted EPS
1.17
Operating cash flow
$44.59M
Free cash flow
$40.65M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$222.21M
Net income
$38.40M
Diluted EPS
1.30
Operating cash flow
$33.03M
Free cash flow
$30.06M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$205.18M
Net income
$30.72M
Diluted EPS
1.04
Operating cash flow
$52.07M
Free cash flow
$47.40M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$208.44M
Net income
$32.04M
Diluted EPS
1.08
Operating cash flow
$45.09M
Free cash flow
$41.96M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$216.66M
Net income
$33.06M
Diluted EPS
1.12
Operating cash flow
$36.42M
Free cash flow
$34.08M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $216.52 vs current price $134.40
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $147.00 (-32.1% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $216.52 a share — about 61.1% above today's price of $134.40, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $205.5M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 35.8x.
Net debt
$-205.45M
Interest coverage
35.80x
Badger Meter, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 35.8 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
BMI
BASELINE
Badger Meter, Inc.
Total debt $0.00 Interest coverage 35.80x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $1.60B Interest coverage 13.99x -61% vs BMI Carries about 2.6x less debt cushion than BMI.
Total debt $452.40M Interest coverage 14.18x -60% vs BMI Carries about 2.5x less debt cushion than BMI.
Total debt $2.06B Interest coverage 45.72x +28% vs BMI Carries about 1.3x more debt cushion than BMI.
Total debt $305.00M Interest coverage 43.69x +22% vs BMI Carries about 1.2x more debt cushion than BMI.
Total debt $10.46B Interest coverage 6.88x -81% vs BMI Carries about 5.2x less debt cushion than BMI.
What you should know
The case for and against BMI
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Returns 19.6% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
-
Dividend yield is 1.2% with 37-year payout history.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 0.6% (peer median: 1.0%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
30.41x
Forward P/E
25.75x
P/B
5.68x
P/S
4.37x
EV/EBITDA
18.48x
PEG ratio
3.29x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
41.4%
Operating margin
17.4%
Net margin
14.6%
ROE
19.6%
ROA
11.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
—
Current ratio
3.00x
Quick ratio
1.86x
Total debt
$0.00
Total cash
$205.45M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$883.29M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
16.1%
EPS TTM
4.42
EPS 5Y CAGR
28.5%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$184.56M
Free CF TTM
$169.67M
FCF margin
19.2%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.2%
Payout ratio
34.8%
Last ex-div date
2026-05-22