Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $21.29 and last traded at $21.3250, with a volume of 239380 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MWA shares. Weiss Ratings cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.40.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.74. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.86%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total value of $1,055,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.33 per share, for a total transaction of $29,965.39. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,946 shares in the company, valued at $631,882.18. This trade represents a 4.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth approximately $121,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc develops and manufactures products used to build, maintain and monitor water transmission and distribution systems. Its offerings help utilities and other infrastructure operators control water flow, connect and repair pipelines, manage pressure and identify leaks.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings and repair products, metering and monitoring systems, leak-detection technologies, and related flow-control equipment.