Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $21.51 and traded as high as $22.74. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $22.50, with a volume of 708,841 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.52.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 35.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% in the 2nd 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. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.