Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

by · The Markets Daily

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.60.

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

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MWA

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.6 %

MWA stock opened at $21.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.50. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $12.13 and a fifty-two week high of $21.71.

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

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $10,630,326.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Mueller Water Products news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,630,326.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,143,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,571,000 after acquiring an additional 15,346 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,512,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,182,000 after acquiring an additional 115,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,423,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,901,000 after acquiring an additional 366,264 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

(Get Free Report

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.

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