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

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, a drop 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 3.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 1.1%

MWA traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.65. The company had a trading volume of 902,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,569,388. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.21. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $17.09 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Barclays PLC increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 208,502 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 87.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,455 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 173.4% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 26,949 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 17,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,780,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

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.