Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Has Average Target Price of $28.40

Shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.40.

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Barclays began coverage on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 target price on Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $21.81 on Friday. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $20.90 and a twelve month high of $31.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The company had revenue of $395.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Mueller Water Products news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total transaction of $291,923.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $746,865.52. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,036,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $165,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,193 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at $75,400,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 58.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,934,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,217,000 after buying an additional 714,913 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at $28,496,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 30.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 888,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,438,000 after buying an additional 205,269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc develops and manufactures products used to build, maintain and monitor water transmission and distribution systems. Its offerings help utilities and other infrastructure operators control water flow, connect and repair pipelines, manage pressure and identify leaks.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings and repair products, metering and monitoring systems, leak-detection technologies, and related flow-control equipment.