Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Mueller Water Products holds a consensus “Hold” rating among five analysts, with two sell, one hold, and two buy recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $28.40, though targets range from $21 to $35.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.50 in EPS versus a $0.39 estimate and revenue of $395.9 million, up 4.1% year over year. Analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $1.53.
• Shares opened at $21.66, near their 52-week low, while Mueller pays a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, yielding about 1.3%. Institutional investors own a substantial 91.68% of the stock.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.40.

A number of analysts have weighed in on MWA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Mueller Water Products from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Barclays began coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut Mueller Water Products from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MWA stock opened at $21.66 on Friday. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $20.90 and a fifty-two week high of $31.00. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $24.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.64. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $395.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%.Mueller Water Products's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian Healy acquired 1,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.33 per share, with a total value of $29,965.39. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 24,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $631,882.18. This represents a 4.98% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $1,123,052.84. This trade represents a 48.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MWA. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,400,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,530,193 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth approximately $28,496,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $53,217,000 after purchasing an additional 714,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,192,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.