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

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

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MWA shares. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.9 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $23.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $13.49 and a 1 year high of $26.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.55 and its 200-day moving average is $22.18. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Mueller Water Products’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the company’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 value of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,456,000 after purchasing an additional 791,569 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,438 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,809,000 after purchasing an additional 73,069 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 24.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,838,000 after buying an additional 395,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,200,000 after buying an additional 37,729 shares during the period. 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.