Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Given “Outperform” Rating at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $27.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $26.00.

MWA has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA stock traded up $1.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,442,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,083. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.78. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $12.59 and a 52 week high of $25.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.03). Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.067 dividend. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.62%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,375.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mueller Water Products news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $10,630,326.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 121,616 shares of company stock worth $2,390,796 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 193,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 21,604 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 76,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 11,463 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at $452,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by 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.