Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Short Interest Update

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the December 15th total of 3,250,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.94. 2,881,045 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 806,972. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.91. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $13.49 and a 52 week high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.20.

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.