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

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.60.

MWA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,630,326.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,630,326.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total value of $127,101.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,896.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,936 shares of company stock valued at $4,871,716 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 787.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 248,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,458,000 after acquiring an additional 220,721 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $165,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,129,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 2,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 32,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.1 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $19.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.11. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $12.13 and a fifty-two week high of $21.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.06%.

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.