Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Price Up 4.7%

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) traded up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $16.06 and last traded at $16.06. 209,614 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 1,033,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The firm had revenue of $256.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 52.00%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.42 per share, with a total value of $154,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,898.26. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total transaction of $103,997.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 34,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,141.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.42 per share, for a total transaction of $154,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,898.26. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,419 shares of company stock valued at $1,135,416. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $17,097,000. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 13,161,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $189,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,785 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,498,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,981,000 after buying an additional 974,333 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 21.0% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 3,984,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,476,000 after buying an additional 690,788 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 31.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,440,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,943,000 after buying an additional 582,795 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.