Badger Meter
BMI on NYSE. Badger Meter sells water flow measurement and control products and software to water utilities. Market value $3.6bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
We can't read total debt from the filing, so debt is left out.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See cheaper Industrials stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $4.19 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
Quality score: 80 of 100. Price score: 59 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$123.73 a share, 10% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $112.09 to $204.00.
Dividend: 1.2% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Payouts have jumped around in recent years, so this may not repeat.
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $505m | $566m | $704m | $827m | $917m |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 15.6% | 15.4% | 16.8% | 19.1% | 20.0% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.03bn | 0.03bn | 0.03bn | 0.03bn | 0.03bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Not enough data
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- DebtUnknown
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 16.6% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $222 million last quarter, down 7% on a year ago.
- Profit: $30 million, down 14% on a year ago.
- It keeps 19 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, down from 20 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $150 million, down from $160 million.
- 2% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| June 2024 | $217m |
| September 2024 | $208m |
| December 2024 | $205m |
| June 2025 | $238m |
| September 2025 | $236m |
| December 2025 | $221m |
| March 2026 | $202m |
| June 2026 | $222m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| June 2024 | $33m |
| September 2024 | $32m |
| December 2024 | $31m |
| June 2025 | $35m |
| September 2025 | $35m |
| December 2025 | $34m |
| March 2026 | $27m |
| June 2026 | $30m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 17 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 22 October 2026
Who owns it
9 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 8 last quarter. 479 funds in all.
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $34m | <0.1% | Added |
| Select Equity GroupGeorge Loening | $30m | 0.2% | Added |
| FundsmithTerry Smith | $26m | 0.2% | Added |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $15m | 0.1% | Cut |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $14m | 0.1% | Cut |
| Vulcan Value PartnersC.T. Fitzpatrick | $10m | 0.3% | New |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $2m | <0.1% | Added |
| Cullen Capital ManagementJames Cullen | $658,214 | <0.1% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $519,627 | <0.1% | Cut |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$726m
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$372mAdded
- State Street$245mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$195m
- Geode Capital Management$150mAdded
- Impax Asset Management Group$140mNew
- First Trust Advisors LP$115mAdded
- Morgan Stanley$110mAdded
- Boston Trust Walden$108mAdded
- UBS Group AG$93mCut
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
4 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor16.3%Since 31 March 2025
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor8.5%Since 31 March 2026
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor5.2%Since 31 March 2026
- STATE STREET CORPORATIONPassive investor5.2%+0.3 ptsSince 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 16.3% | 31 March 2025 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 8.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 5.2% | 31 March 2026 | |
STATE STREET CORPORATION Passive investor | 5.2%+0.3 pts | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 5 insiders bought $2m of shares on the open market. 2 sold $596,002.
- Callahan Edward F.VP-EngineeringBought
- Date
- 30 July 2026
- Shares
- 751
- Price
- $135.25
- Value
- $101,572
- Wrocklage RobertEVP-N.A. Muncipal UtilityBought
- Date
- 23 April 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $122.35
- Value
- $122,350
- Htwe RichardVP-Global OperationsBought
- Date
- 21 April 2026
- Shares
- 1,700
- Price
- $116.13
- Value
- $197,421
- Tarantino Christina M.VP-ControllerBought
- Date
- 21 April 2026
- Shares
- 870
- Price
- $113.80
- Value
- $99,006
- Callahan Edward F.VP-EngineeringBought
- Date
- 21 April 2026
- Shares
- 858
- Price
- $116.30
- Value
- $99,785
- Bockhorst KennethChairman, President & CEO, DirectorBought
- Date
- 21 April 2026
- Shares
- 2,200
- Price
- $117.53
- Value
- $258,566
- Stoll Kimberly KVP-Cust Serv & GM SmartCoverSold
- Date
- 6 March 2026
- Shares
- 143
- Price
- $144.50
- Value
- $20,664
- Begale Fred JVP-Utility NPDSold
- Date
- 4 March 2026
- Shares
- 2,064
- Price
- $150.00
- Value
- $309,600
- Stoll Kimberly KVP-Cust Serv & GM SmartCoverSold
- Date
- 3 March 2026
- Shares
- 1,634
- Price
- $149.01
- Value
- $243,482
- Stoll Kimberly KVP-Cust Serv & GM SmartCoverSold
- Date
- 27 February 2026
- Shares
- 148
- Price
- $150.38
- Value
- $22,256
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 July 2026 | Callahan Edward F. VP-Engineering | Bought | 751 | $135.25 | $101,572 |
| 23 April 2026 | Wrocklage Robert EVP-N.A. Muncipal Utility | Bought | 1,000 | $122.35 | $122,350 |
| 21 April 2026 | Htwe Richard VP-Global Operations | Bought | 1,700 | $116.13 | $197,421 |
| 21 April 2026 | Tarantino Christina M. VP-Controller | Bought | 870 | $113.80 | $99,006 |
| 21 April 2026 | Callahan Edward F. VP-Engineering | Bought | 858 | $116.30 | $99,785 |
| 21 April 2026 | Bockhorst Kenneth Chairman, President & CEO, Director | Bought | 2,200 | $117.53 | $258,566 |
| 6 March 2026 | Stoll Kimberly K VP-Cust Serv & GM SmartCover | Sold | 143 | $144.50 | $20,664 |
| 4 March 2026 | Begale Fred J VP-Utility NPD | Sold | 2,064 | $150.00 | $309,600 |
| 3 March 2026 | Stoll Kimberly K VP-Cust Serv & GM SmartCover | Sold | 1,634 | $149.01 | $243,482 |
| 27 February 2026 | Stoll Kimberly K VP-Cust Serv & GM SmartCover | Sold | 148 | $150.38 | $22,256 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 17 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 23 Jul 2026 and 5 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.