Mueller Water Products (MWA) Competitors

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) and Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Is FELE or MWA more profitable?

Mueller Water Products has a net margin of 10.48% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.85%. Mueller Water Products' return on equity of 21.31% beat Franklin Electric's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin Electric	8.85%	14.08%	9.72%
Mueller Water Products	10.48%	21.31%	10.86%

Which has more risk and volatility, FELE or MWA?

Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mueller Water Products has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, FELE or MWA?

Franklin Electric has higher revenue and earnings than Mueller Water Products. Franklin Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mueller Water Products, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	2.10	$180.31M	$3.82	24.32
Mueller Water Products	$1.31B	2.95	$115.90M	$0.91	27.24

Do analysts rate FELE or MWA?

Franklin Electric currently has a consensus price target of $94.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.16%. Mueller Water Products has a consensus price target of $26.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.89%. Given Mueller Water Products' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Mueller Water Products is more favorable than Franklin Electric.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Mueller Water Products	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FELE or MWA?

80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.7% of Mueller Water Products shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Mueller Water Products shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer FELE or MWA?

In the previous week, Mueller Water Products had 7 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Mueller Water Products and 3 mentions for Franklin Electric. Mueller Water Products' average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Franklin Electric's score of 1.26 indicating that Mueller Water Products is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Franklin Electric	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mueller Water Products	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FELE or MWA a better dividend stock?

Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Mueller Water Products pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric pays out 27.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mueller Water Products pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Franklin Electric has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Mueller Water Products has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Mueller Water Products beats Franklin Electric on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.