Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $28.25 and last traded at $27.90, with a volume of 3297763 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.94 and a 200-day moving average of $23.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.23%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % 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 Trading of Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $381,478,000 after purchasing an additional 378,356 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,456,000 after buying an additional 791,569 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,174,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,936,000 after buying an additional 596,956 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,318,000 after buying an additional 1,780,366 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,317,000 after acquiring an additional 12,438 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.