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

Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

MWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. 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.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

NYSE:MWA traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.52. 959,981 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,588. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.37. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $13.49 and a 1 year high of $26.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.62%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at $3,077,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth about $346,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,915,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.