Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Reaches New 1-Year High at $20.50

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.50 and last traded at $20.50, with a volume of 342070 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 22nd. Baird R W raised Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.75.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.55.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $353.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. Mueller Water Products’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.064 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $976,247.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 2,650 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,827. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $976,247.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,070,000 after buying an additional 227,843 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 13,161,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $189,528,000 after buying an additional 1,022,785 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,498,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,981,000 after buying an additional 974,333 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,740,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,069,000 after buying an additional 430,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,417,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,006,000 after buying an additional 138,018 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.