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

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

Several brokerages have weighed in on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 9.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 341.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 4,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 874,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,839. The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.12. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio 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.