Brokerages Set Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Target Price at $22.20

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.20.

MWA has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MWA stock opened at $24.97 on Friday. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $13.08 and a 12-month high of $26.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released 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 business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.99%.

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.