Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Upgraded by Oppenheimer to Outperform

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $19.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Mueller Water Products from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $15.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $12.11 and a 12-month high of $16.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.19.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $256.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.64 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 6.35%. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $560,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $560,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Paul Mcandrew sold 23,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $345,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,649.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at about $80,000. Mcdonald Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 113,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 30,700 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 43.5% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 256,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 77,810 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,183,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.