Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest more than doubled to 4.04 million shares as of July 15, up 107.9% from June 30, representing about 1.9% of outstanding shares and 2.1 days of average trading volume.
• Institutional investors own 94.5% of Mueller Industries, with major firms including AQR Capital, Geode Capital and Goldman Sachs increasing their positions.
• Mueller Industries exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.13 in adjusted EPS and $1.43 billion in revenue, while analysts maintained a consensus “Buy” rating and a $75 price target.

Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,044,056 shares, a growth of 107.9% from the June 30th total of 1,945,162 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,952,083 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Industries

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,515,780 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,207,212,000 after acquiring an additional 260,306 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Mueller Industries by 0.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,594,217 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $619,839,000 after acquiring an additional 33,248 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mueller Industries by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,054,565 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $465,464,000 after buying an additional 1,468,872 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,642,059 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,359,000 after acquiring an additional 624,210 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Mueller Industries by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,528,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $290,216,000 after purchasing an additional 679,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.50% of the company's stock.

Mueller Industries Stock Up 3.6%

NYSE:MLI opened at $66.49 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $63.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.35. The stock has a market cap of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 1.11. Mueller Industries has a fifty-two week low of $41.17 and a fifty-two week high of $70.95.

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. Mueller Industries had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 25.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share.

Mueller Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Mueller Industries's payout ratio is presently 18.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Northcoast Research upgraded Mueller Industries from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mueller Industries in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.00.

About Mueller Industries

Mueller Industries, Inc is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of copper, brass, aluminum and plastic products. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company serves a wide range of markets including HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), refrigeration, plumbing, industrial gas, automotive and agricultural sectors. Its product portfolio encompasses copper and plastic tubing, brass fittings, valves and related components designed for fluid handling and temperature control applications.

The company operates through multiple business segments, including the Plumbing & Refrigeration segment, which supplies copper and plastic tubing, fittings and valves for residential and commercial construction markets; the Industrial Metals & Mining segment, which provides aluminum shapes and specialty brass products for industrial applications; and the Climate segment, which focuses on copper tubing and components for air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

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