Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,830,000 shares, a growth of 48.4% from the February 28th total of 2,580,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, 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. 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. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,748,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,875. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.89. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 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 Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

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.