Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) SVP Todd P. Helms Sells 3,556 Shares

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at $967,848.66. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $25.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.46.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at about $14,040,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at about $13,031,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at about $9,154,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.