Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Receives $22.20 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five 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 brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MWA. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 36.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA remained flat at $23.01 on Friday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,634,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,063,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $13.49 and a fifty-two week high of $26.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $23.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.23.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.