Share Buyback Plan Declared by Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 22nd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MWA stock opened at $22.27 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.89 and a 200 day moving average of $25.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.64 and a quick ratio of 3.08. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $20.90 and a 1-year high of $31.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%. The firm had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 19.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,052.84. The trade was a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,376 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $29,928.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,322 shares in the company, valued at $572,503.50. This represents a 5.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.