Quality Investor

Badger Meter, Inc.

Rank #147Capital Return

BMI · NYSE · Technology

Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) — Rank #147 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.38) · ROE 20.7% · Piotroski F-Score 4 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000009092 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Badger Meter, Inc. manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide.

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The company offers Utility water smart metering solutions and software technologies and services to municipal water utility market. It also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids, 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. In addition, the company offers ORION Cellular endpoints to power network as a service; ORION mobile read endpoints support for deploying AMR solution; radio products; hardware, instruments, and sensors, and related software, to enhance connected data to a water utility's operation; water quality monitoring solutions, including optical sensing and electrochemical instruments; and high frequency pressure and leak detection sensors to aid in burst pipe and leak events; as well as BEACON, a secure cloud-hosted software suite that establishes alerts for specific conditions and allows consumer engagement tools that permit end water user to view and manage their water usage activity. Its flow instrumentation products are used in water/wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, and corporate sustainability markets. The company serves water utilities, commercial, and industrial industries; and provides training, project management, technical support, and other collaborative services for customers. It sells its products and software to employees, resellers, and representatives.

The company was incorporated in 1905 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Industry
Scientific & Technical Instruments
Sector
Technology
State
WI
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

BMI+23.4% · +4.3% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$3.66B

P/E (annual)

26.4

P/S (annual)

4.0

P/B

5.4

P/OCF (annual)

19.9

Shareholder Yield

1.1%

Employees

2,477

Industry

Scientific & Technical Instruments

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

4 green
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
RPO outpacing revenueRemaining performance obligations growing faster than recognized revenue — forward demand building
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.38
Return on equity
20.7%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.46
Current ratio
2.42×
Net cash

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.0%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
10.9%
Piotroski F-Score
4 / 9
Share dilution
0.1%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 3/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

9.0%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Dilution drag: 0.1% — per-share value needs a total required return of 9.1% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 14.7%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

4.6%

r = 10% (base)

9.0%

r = 12%

12.8%

Base FCF: $169.7M3Y mean FCF: $136.7M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

33.2xCheap
33.2xmed 50.9x64.8x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

5.1xExpensive
0.0xmed 0.0x5.1x

P / B

Price / book value per share

6.6xExpensive
0.0xmed 0.0x6.6x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

12.3xExpensive
0.0xmed 0.0x12.3x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

27.7xExpensive
0.0xmed 0.0x27.7x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.38

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

64th pctl of 37 SIC 38 peers

Return on equity

20.7%

Gross margin

41.7%

25th pctl of 37 SIC 38 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

10.9%

RPO growth (YoY)

23.9%

Remaining performance obligations growth — RPO > revenue = forward demand building.

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

17.5%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

16.6%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

28.7%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

30.4%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.46

82nd pctl of 35 SIC 38 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

2.42×

46th pctl of 36 SIC 38 peers

Quick ratio

Net cash

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$169.67M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.20

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.0%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

4.0 / 5

Strong
Payout ratio
30.7%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
3.90×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
10 yr5/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.46 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

4 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Value
Capital Return
Op. Leverage