Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Short Interest Down 22.1% in May

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, a decline of 22.1% from the April 30th total of 7,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 3.7% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of MWA stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $24.22. 38,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,565,146. The business's fifty day moving average is $25.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $17.09 and a 12-month high of $28.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The firm's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $181,228.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 73.1% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 184.6% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

About Mueller Water Products

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.