Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

A number of equities analysts have commented on MWA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 1st. TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $19.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $12.13 and a 1-year high of $21.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.87.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. Mueller Water Products’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $2,751,046.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 65,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 610,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,791,000 after buying an additional 10,291 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,818,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,191,000 after buying an additional 17,475 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 4,992 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.