Insider Selling: Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Insider Sells $2,751,046.02 in Stock

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

J Scott Hall also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 12th, J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of Mueller Water Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $1,993,568.50.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MWA stock opened at $20.04 on Thursday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.13 and a fifty-two week high of $21.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 3.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.15. The company has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MWA. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $1,509,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.7% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 757,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,193,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth about $14,642,000. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 256,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 77,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at about $452,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.