Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.08), Zacks reports. Mueller Industries had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 25.68%.

Mueller Industries Stock Up 1.1%

MLI opened at $60.76 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.08. Mueller Industries has a 12-month low of $49.51 and a 12-month high of $71.12.

Mueller Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Mueller Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.23%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Industries

In other Mueller Industries news, Director John B. Hansen sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.13, for a total value of $68,130.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,975,770. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory L. Christopher sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.44, for a total value of $13,688,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,598,850 shares in the company, valued at $109,425,294. The trade was a 11.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 275,444 shares of company stock worth $18,885,398. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MLI. Northcoast Research raised Mueller Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mueller Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mueller Industries in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

About Mueller Industries

Mueller Industries, Inc is a manufacturer of metal and plastic products used in plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, fire protection, water distribution, and industrial applications. Its product portfolio includes copper, brass, aluminum, and steel tubing; fittings; valves; copper and plastic piping systems; and related components.

The company sells products primarily through wholesale distributors, original equipment manufacturers, building-supply outlets, and other industrial channels.