Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Share Price Breaks Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.70 and traded as high as $22.79. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $22.7350, with a volume of 1,820,959 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MWA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 22.70%.

Mueller Water Products announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $300 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total value of $291,923.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $746,865.52. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 95.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 47.5% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 416,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,854,000 after purchasing an additional 134,249 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 4.7% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 14,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 22.5% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 56,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 10,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 18.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,726 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.