Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38, FiscalAI reports. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The business had revenue of $376.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of MWA traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $24.53. 2,027,083 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,246,862. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.82. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $20.90 and a 12 month high of $31.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total value of $291,923.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $746,865.52. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,376 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $29,928.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,503.50. This trade represents a 5.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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

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.