Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at 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 research report report published on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MWA traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,149,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,892. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.83. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,600 shares of company stock worth $914,076. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 73.1% in the 1st 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.