Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Trading 3.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) were up 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 traded hands during trading, a decline of 96% from the average daily volume of 1,204,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.56.

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

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $127,101.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,896.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 2,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,509,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at $14,642,000. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 43.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth $1,018,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 17,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.94.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $353.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 40.63%.

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.