Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE MWA opened at $24.39 on Thursday. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $17.09 and a 12 month high of $28.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.83. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.32 per share, for a total transaction of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,178.40. This trade represents a 8.02% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,600 shares of company stock worth $914,076. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 208,502 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 87.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,573,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% 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.