Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Insider Sells $1,993,568.50 in Stock

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

J Scott Hall also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 8th, J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of Mueller Water Products stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $2,751,046.02.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA opened at $20.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 3.53. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.13 and a fifty-two week high of $21.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.15.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MWA shares. Robert W. Baird upped 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 281.7% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 663,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,895,000 after acquiring an additional 489,902 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth $8,087,000. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth $1,472,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 766,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,732,000 after purchasing an additional 8,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 787.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 248,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,458,000 after purchasing an additional 220,721 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.