Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives $21.60 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

A number of research firms have commented on MWA. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of MWA stock opened at $21.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $12.13 and a 12 month high of $21.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc manufactures and markets products and services for the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water used by municipalities, and the residential and non-residential construction industries in the United States, Israel, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions.