Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on MWA. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $17.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $12.11 and a twelve month high of $19.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.71.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The firm had revenue of $353.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $976,247.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at about $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 4,422 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 345,700.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 6,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.