Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) Trading Up 4.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) shot up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $84.33 and last traded at $83.63. 94,385 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 835,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Northcoast Research upgraded Mueller Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

Mueller Industries Stock Up 5.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.99.

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $997.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $936.00 million. Mueller Industries had a return on equity of 23.25% and a net margin of 16.39%. Mueller Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Mueller Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Mueller Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles P. Herzog, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of Mueller Industries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.04, for a total transaction of $1,380,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,145.32. The trade was a 45.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John B. Hansen sold 1,000 shares of Mueller Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.09, for a total value of $83,090.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 94,914 shares in the company, valued at $7,886,404.26. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Industries

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Mueller Industries by 44.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,094,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $119,271,000 after purchasing an additional 641,114 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Mueller Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,552,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,469,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,907,000 after acquiring an additional 315,490 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,441,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 393,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,152,000 after acquiring an additional 171,671 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.50% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Industries

Mueller Industries, Inc manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples.