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

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the firm’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 owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8,617.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 21,631 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 81.6% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,067 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 10,817 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 2,197 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 191,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,077,000 after buying an additional 31,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,070,000 after acquiring an additional 227,843 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MWA opened at $25.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.31. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $348.20 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

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.