Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The business had revenue of $376.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $375.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Mueller Water Products stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.07. 1,718,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,254,959. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $20.90 and a twelve month high of $31.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.80.

Mueller Water Products declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 22nd that allows the company to buy back $300 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total transaction of $291,923.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $746,865.52. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,376 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $29,928.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 26,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,503.50. This trade represents a 5.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.