Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

MWA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $22.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.37. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $13.49 and a twelve month high of $26.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.16.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 35.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $967,848.66. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc manufactures and markets products and services for the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water used by municipalities, and the residential and non-residential construction industries in the United States, Israel, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions.