Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Releases Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38, FiscalAI reports. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%. The business had revenue of $376.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.05. 3,211,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,409,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.64 and a quick ratio of 3.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $20.90 and a 52-week high of $31.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.82.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 19.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on MWA shares. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 target price on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Mueller Water Products declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian Healy purchased 1,376 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $29,928.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 26,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,503.50. This represents a 5.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.