Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $25.05, but opened at $25.60. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $26.30, with a volume of 792,945 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.31.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 77,467 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 71.2% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 52,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth $1,057,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth $451,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 256.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 30,475 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.