Analysts Set Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) PT at $22.00

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

MWA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.5 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $20.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $12.13 and a 52-week high of $21.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 3.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.17.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. Mueller Water Products’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $10,630,326.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $1,993,568.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $10,630,326.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 246,078 shares of company stock worth $4,920,087. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 199,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 64,975 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,031,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 86,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 4,030 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 24.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,838,000 after acquiring an additional 395,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 250.4% during the second quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 102,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after acquiring an additional 72,960 shares during 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 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.