Critical Survey: Mueller Industries (MLI) versus The Competition

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) is one of 436 publicly-traded companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Mueller Industries to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Mueller Industries and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mueller Industries	0	0	3	0	3.00
Mueller Industries Competitors	4215	14733	18263	809	2.41

Mueller Industries presently has a consensus target price of $75.50, indicating a potential upside of 37.54%. As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 30.79%. Given Mueller Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Mueller Industries is more favorable than its peers.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.5% of Mueller Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.8% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Mueller Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Mueller Industries has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mueller Industries’ peers have a beta of 5.11, indicating that their average stock price is 411% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Mueller Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Mueller Industries pays out 17.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Machinery” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.8% and pay out 24.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Mueller Industries has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Mueller Industries and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mueller Industries	17.26%	25.23%	21.32%
Mueller Industries Competitors	-1,035.50%	-36.21%	-0.24%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mueller Industries and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mueller Industries	$4.18 billion	$765.19 million	14.08
Mueller Industries Competitors	$4.62 billion	$362.62 million	6.30

Mueller Industries’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Mueller Industries. Mueller Industries is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Mueller Industries beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Mueller Industries Company Profile

Mueller Industries, Inc. manufactures and markets products used in plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, and industrial applications. Its products include copper tube and fittings, valves, line sets, brass rod and forgings, and plastic plumbing products. The company serves customers across a range of markets, including construction, HVAC and refrigeration, automotive, and industrial manufacturing. Its operations and sales reach North America and international markets, including Europe and Asia.