Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $25.05, but opened at $25.60. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $26.30, with a volume of 792,945 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MWA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.6 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

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 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

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Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. The trade was 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,838,000 after buying an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $90,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,366 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,996,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,688,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $60,502,000 after purchasing an additional 888,591 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 514.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,826,000 after purchasing an additional 812,127 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.