Mueller Water Products (MWA) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

MWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,052.84. This trade represents a 48.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian Healy acquired 1,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $29,928.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 26,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $572,503.50. The trade was a 5.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Paralel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $2,172,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth $1,571,000. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,522,000. Diversified Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,753,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,283,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $23.63 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.83. Mueller Water Products has a one year low of $20.90 and a one year high of $31.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.64 and a quick ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $300 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.