Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Price Up 3.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) shares rose 3.1% during trading on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $22.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Mueller Water Products traded as high as $18.13 and last traded at $18.11. Approximately 49,784 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average daily volume of 1,204,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.56.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 2,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,827. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $127,101.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,896.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 2,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 4,422 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 2,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.064 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.06%.

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.