Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives $22.20 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages 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 twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $21.68 on Monday. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $13.49 and a 12-month high of $26.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.94 and a 200 day moving average of $21.77.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. The trade was a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 361.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 208,502 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 19.8% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,467,000 after acquiring an additional 64,399 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth approximately $451,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $53,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.