Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a decline of 20.8% from the October 15th total of 3,990,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MWA shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This represents a 9.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,070,000 after acquiring an additional 227,843 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,317,000 after buying an additional 12,438 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,809,000 after buying an additional 73,069 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.5% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,143,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,571,000 after acquiring an additional 15,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.31. 874,375 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,839. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.12. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $13.08 and a 12 month high of $26.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.067 dividend. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

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.