Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $28.40

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.40.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MWA shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Barclays assumed coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian Healy purchased 1,376 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $29,928.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 26,322 shares in the company, valued at $572,503.50. This trade represents a 5.52% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 34.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,036,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $165,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,193 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $75,400,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 58.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,934,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,217,000 after purchasing an additional 714,913 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at $28,496,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 30.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 888,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,438,000 after purchasing an additional 205,269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $21.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.64. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $20.90 and a 1 year high of $31.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $23.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.47.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.86%.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc develops and manufactures products used to build, maintain and monitor water transmission and distribution systems. Its offerings help utilities and other infrastructure operators control water flow, connect and repair pipelines, manage pressure and identify leaks.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings and repair products, metering and monitoring systems, leak-detection technologies, and related flow-control equipment.