Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.20.

MWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 target price on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $23.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $22.74 and a 52-week high of $31.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%.The firm had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 19.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian Healy bought 1,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.33 per share, for a total transaction of $29,965.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,882.18. The trade was a 4.98% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 89.5% during the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc is a leading provider of water infrastructure and flow control products and services designed to help water utilities and municipalities manage, control and measure their water distribution systems. The company’s portfolio includes a comprehensive range of products such as fire hydrants, valves, pipe repair systems, fittings and couplings, along with advanced metering and monitoring solutions. By combining traditional mechanical components with digital technologies, Mueller Water Products addresses the critical need for reliable and sustainable water distribution across North America.

The company’s operations are organized around two primary business segments.