Quality Investor

Badger Meter, Inc.

Rank #132Capital ReturnWatchlistCompare with other stocks

BMI · NYSE · Technology

Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) — Rank #132 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.40) · ROE 21.8% · Piotroski F-Score 4 / 9.

As-of 2026-10-30 · 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.

Show more

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

Company Snapshot

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

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

2,477

Industry

Scientific & Technical Instruments

Exchange

NYSE

11/11

Flags passed

BMI passes 11/11 quality flags

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    Dilution within 2%
  • PASS
    FCF not negative from investment
  • PASS
    Disclosure consistent
  • PASS
    Revenue not declining
  • PASS
    Operating margin holding
  • PASS
    Free cash flow intact
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    No competitive retreat
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No valuation convergence

Strengths Operating leverage expanding · Deferred revenue growing · RPO outpacing revenue · Sequential beat (rev + EPS)

No data Balance sheet — not counted as a pass.

A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.40
Return on equity
21.8%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.45
Current ratio
2.48×
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%

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

Profitability

Does it make money well?

No warning flags · GP/assets 65th percentile of 41 SIC 38 peers

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.40

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

65th pctl of 41 SIC 38 peers

Return on equity

21.8%

Gross margin

41.7%

22nd pctl of 41 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%

Cash Flow Health

Is the cash real?

No warning flags · FCF 20% above net income

Free cash flow

$169.67M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF vs net income

19.8%

(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.

FCF not below net income

Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.0%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Balance Sheet Strength

Can it survive a storm?

No warning flags · F-Score 4/9

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.45

77th pctl of 40 SIC 38 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

2.48×

41st pctl of 40 SIC 38 peers

Quick ratio

—

Net cash

—

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Piotroski F-Score

4 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Valuation

Is the price reasonable?

No warning flags

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 0.45 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

2.3 / 5

Fair
Share count trend
0.1%2/5 Fair
Buyback timing
N/AN/A
Dividend growth consistency
10 yr5/5 Strong
Net debt trajectory
N/A0/5 Weak

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Value
Capital Return
Op. Leverage

Price History

BMI+35.4% · +6.2% CAGRSPY+82.9% · +12.8% CAGR