Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.80.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 45,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 1.5 %

MWA stock opened at $25.74 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $14.81 and a 12 month high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

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.