14 Best Mid-Cap Dividend Stocks To Buy Now

12. Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28

Market Cap: $5.05 Billion

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) is among the best dividend stocks to invest in.

On January 7, Barclays analyst William Grippin launched coverage of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) with an Underweight rating and a $157 price target. In his view, Badger is a “solid company with a difficult setup.” He argued that the stock’s premium valuation compared with other water technology names makes the risk/reward less attractive. Barclays also expects growth to slow as the market matures and utility funding becomes more constrained.

Badger is an early leader in North America’s smart-water tech market, but only about 40% of its connection points have migrated to its AMI platform so far. The company expects adoption to rise as customers replace old equipment and as new platform features like real-time water quality and pressure monitoring increase the value of upgrading. Badger is also targeting growth through flow instrumentation opportunities in industrial and smart-building uses, while expanding internationally into regions like Europe and the Middle East.

In addition, acquisitions remain a key growth driver, highlighted by its $185 million purchase of SmartCover in early 2025, which strengthens Badger’s wastewater monitoring capabilities and creates new cross-selling opportunities across its customer base.

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) manufactures and markets flow measurement, water quality, and control solutions, along with other system products that serve customers across global markets.