Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.80.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.01. 3,898,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,543. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.25. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $15.61 and a 52-week high of $28.58. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $381,478,000 after buying an additional 378,356 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,174,938 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $93,936,000 after purchasing an additional 596,956 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $90,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.