UPDATE: Canaccord Genuity Downgrades Badger Meter to Hold

Canaccord Genuity cuts its rating to Hold from Buy on Badger Meeter MBI on limited near-term upside on shares. Price target goes up from $37.50 to $40 on adjusted estimates for 2012-2013. Canaccord Genuity says, "Make no mistake, we like Badger's platform and management's history of execution, most recently with the ~$0.20 accretive Racine deal (and we stick with our premium multiple vs. peers). That said, our channel work suggests some more variability (and pull-forward from Q2/Q3) by municipal customers, and we believe shares have more limited nearterm upside now that Street estimates assume a return to “normal” customer buying patterns. We'll revisit this thesis in our next round of checks." BMI closed at $37.78 on Thursday.