Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives $17.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.50.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Oppenheimer raised Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, COO Paul Mcandrew sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $345,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,649.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Paul Mcandrew sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $345,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,701 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,649.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.42 per share, with a total value of $154,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,898.26. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $1,018,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 159,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $408,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,440,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,943,000 after acquiring an additional 582,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $16.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.29. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $12.11 and a 52-week high of $16.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.69 and a 200 day moving average of $14.45.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The company had revenue of $256.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.064 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.00%.

About Mueller Water Products

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.