Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Short Interest Up 27.9% in October

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWAGet Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,990,000 shares, an increase of 27.9% from the September 30th total of 3,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.13. 985,060 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,248,943. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.42. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $12.13 and a 52-week high of $23.12.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWAGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.67 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

View Our Latest Analysis on MWA

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,065,549.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,003,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $216,048,000 after purchasing an additional 147,482 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 12.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 193,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after acquiring an additional 21,604 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 17.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 76,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,463 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth approximately $408,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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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.

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