Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $21.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.44 and a 200-day moving average of $18.37. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $12.13 and a 52-week high of $21.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.06%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by 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.