Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Short Interest Down 16.3% in November

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,670,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the November 15th total of 3,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MWA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MWA. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,212,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,449. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $13.49 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The business's 50 day moving average price is $23.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.02.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Mueller Water Products's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.