Insider Buying: Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Director Buys 1,376 Shares of Company Stock

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian Healy acquired 1,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $29,928.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 26,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,503.50. This trade represents a 5.52% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.5%

MWA stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.67. 812,941 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,219,512. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $20.90 and a 52-week high of $31.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.82 and its 200-day moving average is $25.49. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diversified Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the third quarter worth $1,753,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 7.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 79,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 5,408 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,787 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 154.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 32,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 19,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MWA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.40.

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.