Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.80.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MWA. Barclays PLC boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 77,467 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,696,000 after purchasing an additional 50,119 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 31,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 199,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,494,000 after purchasing an additional 22,045 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $25.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.72 and a 200-day moving average of $24.31. Mueller Water Products has a one year low of $15.76 and a one year high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

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.