Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Short Interest Up 48.4% in March

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,830,000 shares, a growth of 48.4% from the February 28th total of 2,580,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 7.1 %

MWA stock traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.23. The stock had a trading volume of 488,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,292,313. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $14.81 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.01.

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Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth about $671,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,200,000 after buying an additional 37,729 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 203,942 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 110,227 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 94.3% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,835 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 10,600 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 87,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 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.