Brokerages Set Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Price Target at $22.20

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.1 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $24.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.21. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $13.08 and a twelve month high of $26.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 757,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,193,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 694,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,175,000 after purchasing an additional 83,567 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 191,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,077,000 after buying an additional 31,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,077,000. Hedge funds and other 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.