Analysts Set Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Price Target at $25.80

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.80.

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

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $25.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $14.81 and a 12-month high of $28.25.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Mueller Water Products news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. 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.