Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Upgraded by Barclays to “Strong Sell” Rating

Barclays upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) to a strong sell rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MWA opened at $25.86 on Tuesday. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $22.74 and a twelve month high of $31.00. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 4.57, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.94.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 22.11%. As a group, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 21.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.75 per share, for a total transaction of $30,024.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,897.25. The trade was a 5.16% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,400,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 34.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,036,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $165,948,000 after buying an additional 1,530,193 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 112.2% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,267,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,099,000 after buying an additional 1,198,801 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 344.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 945,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,733,000 after buying an additional 732,669 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 58.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,934,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,217,000 after buying an additional 714,913 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.