Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

NYSE:MWA traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,301,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,570,463. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. 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 twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.32 per share, for a total transaction of $27,472.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $370,178.40. The trade was a 8.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 73.1% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 184.6% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

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.