Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Oppenheimer upgraded Mueller Water Products from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.4 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $15.91 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $12.11 and a 12 month high of $16.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 6.35%. The business had revenue of $256.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.00%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $560,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $560,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Paul Mcandrew sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $345,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,649.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,458 shares of company stock valued at $1,052,260. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MWA. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 13,161,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $189,528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,785 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $14,642,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 worth $107,981,000 after purchasing an additional 974,333 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,440,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,943,000 after purchasing an additional 582,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position 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 worth $97,069,000 after purchasing an additional 430,572 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.