Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.1% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.9 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $24.53 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G 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.

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

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.62%.

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.