Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Hits New 1-Year High at $21.17

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.17 and last traded at $21.07, with a volume of 49103 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MWA shares. Baird R W upgraded Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 3.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.52.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

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 value of $2,751,046.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $11,065,549.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $2,751,046.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,065,549.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $1,509,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.7% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 757,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,193,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at $14,642,000. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 256,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 77,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the first quarter valued at about $452,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.