Brokerages Set Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Price Target at $25.80

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.80.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew 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 shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA opened at $25.20 on Tuesday. Mueller Water Products has a one year low of $14.81 and a one year high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

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.