After beating estimates last quarter by $0.06, Badger Meter (NYSE: BMI) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday. Badger Meter is a manufacturer and marketer of products incorporating liquid flow measurement and control technologies.

What analysts say:
 

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Badger Meter with five of eight analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Badger Meter as much as competitor Itron overall. Thirteen out of 24 analysts rate Itron a buy compared to two of eight for Badger Meter. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $76.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.55 per share. Estimates range from $0.52 to $0.60.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 96.6% giving it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 92.6% granting it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on Badger Meter, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 66 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Badger Meter, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Badger Meter's income has fallen year over year by an average of 13.9% over the past five quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Gross Margin

36.2%

35.6%

38%

36.9%

Operating Margin

16.3%

9.1%

14.9%

17.7%

Net Margin

10.4%

5.7%

9.7%

11.9%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Badger Meter movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your watchlist.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.