Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $23.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.03. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $14.81 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.