Mueller Water Products, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.07 (NYSE:MWA)

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.067 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th.

Mueller Water Products has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years. Mueller Water Products has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Mueller Water Products to earn $1.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.8%.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $23.17 on Friday. Mueller Water Products has a one year low of $13.49 and a one year high of $26.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.68 and a 200 day moving average of $22.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in 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, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $967,848.66. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.