Mueller Industries (MLI) Competitors

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) and Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, community ranking, valuation, risk, dividends, media sentiment and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, XYL or MLI?

Xylem has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mueller Industries has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, XYL or MLI?

Xylem has higher revenue and earnings than Mueller Industries. Mueller Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xylem, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xylem	$8.40B	3.93	$609M	$2.81	48.44
Mueller Industries	$3.40B	2.41	$602.90M	$4.99	14.45

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of XYL or MLI?

88.0% of Xylem shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.5% of Mueller Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Xylem shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Mueller Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is XYL or MLI more profitable?

Mueller Industries has a net margin of 16.19% compared to Xylem's net margin of 9.11%. Mueller Industries' return on equity of 22.86% beat Xylem's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xylem	9.11%	9.48%	6.05%
Mueller Industries	16.19%	22.86%	19.34%

Do analysts recommend XYL or MLI?

Xylem currently has a consensus target price of $149.67, indicating a potential upside of 9.84%. Given Xylem's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Xylem is more favorable than Mueller Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xylem	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69
Mueller Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the media favor XYL or MLI?

In the previous week, Xylem had 9 more articles in the media than Mueller Industries. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Xylem and 1 mentions for Mueller Industries. Mueller Industries' average media sentiment score of 1.67 beat Xylem's score of 0.79 indicating that Mueller Industries is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Xylem	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mueller Industries	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is XYL or MLI a better dividend stock?

Xylem pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Mueller Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Xylem pays out 51.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mueller Industries pays out 16.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Xylem has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Mueller Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer XYL or MLI?

Xylem received 330 more outperform votes than Mueller Industries when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.16% of users gave Xylem an outperform vote while only 61.66% of users gave Mueller Industries an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Xylem	Outperform Votes 523 63.16%	Underperform Votes 305 36.84%
Mueller Industries	Outperform Votes 193 61.66%	Underperform Votes 120 38.34%

Summary

Xylem beats Mueller Industries on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.