Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded Mueller Water Products from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MWA stock opened at $17.52 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.13 and a 200-day moving average of $15.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $12.11 and a 12-month high of $19.43. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.15. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business had revenue of $353.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. Mueller Water Products’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $976,247.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,648.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 2,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $976,247.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 13,161,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $189,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,785 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,498,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,981,000 after purchasing an additional 974,333 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,740,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,069,000 after purchasing an additional 430,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,417,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,006,000 after purchasing an additional 138,018 shares during the last quarter. 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.