Analysts Set Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Price Target at $25.80

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.80.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MWA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.65 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.80. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 364.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 401,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,716,000 after acquiring an additional 315,224 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter worth approximately $1,487,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth $671,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,200,000 after purchasing an additional 37,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.