Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Lowered to "Buy" Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 432,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $21.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.42. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $12.13 and a 52 week high of $23.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $329.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change 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 1.21%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 86,383 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 11,367 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth $308,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 27,949 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 5,387.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 220,447 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,784,000 after buying an additional 216,430 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.