Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MWA. Barclays initiated coverage on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MWA opened at $26.09 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $22.74 and a 12 month high of $31.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.02.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%.The company had revenue of $395.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.86%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, CEO Paul Mcandrew sold 40,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total value of $1,055,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,052.84. This trade represents a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.33 per share, for a total transaction of $29,965.39. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $631,882.18. This represents a 4.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,091,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,613,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $283,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at about $28,496,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc is a leading provider of water infrastructure and flow control products and services designed to help water utilities and municipalities manage, control and measure their water distribution systems. The company’s portfolio includes a comprehensive range of products such as fire hydrants, valves, pipe repair systems, fittings and couplings, along with advanced metering and monitoring solutions. By combining traditional mechanical components with digital technologies, Mueller Water Products addresses the critical need for reliable and sustainable water distribution across North America.

The company’s operations are organized around two primary business segments.