Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)’s stock price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.70 and traded as high as $22.79. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $22.7350, with a volume of 1,820,959 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.70 and its 200 day moving average is $25.86.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 19.86%.

Mueller Water Products announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $29,928.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,503.50. The trade was a 5.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total value of $291,923.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $746,865.52. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 47.5% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 416,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,854,000 after purchasing an additional 134,249 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 14,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 56,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 10,444 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 3,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 33,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Water Products

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.