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

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.80.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MWA shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $27.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.31. The company has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $13.64 and a 52-week high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the third quarter worth $26,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mueller Water Products

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.