Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) Stock Price & How to Invest

Badger Meter designs and sells water meters, flow-measurement instruments, and the radio and software layer (ORION and GALAXY radios, BEACON and OneNetwork software, and the broader BlueEdge portfolio) that turns municipal water systems into connected networks. Its core customers are North American water utilities upgrading from manual reads to automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), where cellular AMI acts as the gateway to leak detection, usage analytics, and recurring, high-margin SaaS revenue that compounds on top of the hardware installed base.

The investment picture is one of quality over speed: BMI has raised its dividend for over 30 consecutive years, runs strong margins, and carries a large, multi-year pipeline of awarded AMI connections, but it also trades at a premium earnings multiple that leaves little room for disappointment. Q1 2026 showed the sensitivity of that setup, with sales and earnings falling year over year on slower short-cycle orders and utility-project timing, even as management pointed to a second-half recovery and continued expansion of software and "beyond the meter" offerings.

Near-term results are exposed to the timing of large utility AMI projects and to weaker short-cycle order rates, both of which pressured Q1 2026 revenue and earnings. The stock carries a premium valuation (a P/E in the low-30s), so any growth disappointment can drive sharp multiple compression. Competition is intense from larger and well-capitalized rivals including Xylem (Sensus), Roper (Neptune), Mueller, and Itron, which can pressure pricing and share. Supply-chain costs, tariffs, and component availability can squeeze gross margins, and integration risk accompanies acquisitions like UDlive. Utility budgets and municipal funding cycles add cyclicality to an otherwise steady end market.

9 analysts publish price targets on BMI, averaging $155.44 against a $134.35 price as of August 2026, or +15.7%. The published targets run from $112.00 to $170.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 7 buy, 5 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 2 raises and 10 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full BMI forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Badger Meter, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Cellular AMI installed base. Badger Meter frames cellular AMI as the strategic gateway to digital-water adoption, driving meter and radio upgrades across utilities. The most optimistic published target, $170.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Near-term results are exposed to the timing of large utility AMI projects and to weaker short-cycle order rates, both of which pressured Q1 2026 revenue and earnings. The most pessimistic target, $112.00, is roughly what BMI is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on BMI, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Badger Meter, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$900M
• Q1 2026 net sales: ~$202M (down from ~$222M)
• Q1 2026 EPS: ~$0.93
• Market cap: ~$4.5B
• P/E (trailing): ~32x
• Dividend: ~$1.60/share (30+ years of growth)

Badger Meter is a profitable, mid-cap water-technology company with roughly $900 million in trailing revenue and mid-teens net margins. The premium P/E (about 32x) reflects the market pricing in durable software-driven growth and a long dividend record. Q1 2026 revenue fell about 9% year over year on softer project timing and short-cycle orders, and management guided to a second-half improvement excluding the UDlive deal.

If you want BMI exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

Other names that sit close to BMI: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get BMI exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (IJR), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so BMI sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where BMI fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

BMI is a durable, dividend-growing smart-water franchise whose long-run installed-base and software story is weighed against a rich multiple and near-term revenue softness.

Whether BMI is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is BMI a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the BMI stock forecast.

For income investors, whether BMI pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does BMI pay a dividend? And to weigh BMI against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: BMI vs XYL and BMI vs ROP.