Mueller Water Products, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.06 (NYSE:MWA)

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.064 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, May 20th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th.

Mueller Water Products has increased its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 9 years. Mueller Water Products has a dividend payout ratio of 32.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Mueller Water Products to earn $0.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.7%.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.14. 1,617,801 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,088,057. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.35. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $12.11 and a twelve month high of $16.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $256.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.64 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $560,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.42 per share, for a total transaction of $154,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,898.26. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $560,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,458 shares of company stock valued at $1,052,260. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MWA. StockNews.com raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.50.

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.