Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Price Up 3.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) shot up 3.1% on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $22.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Mueller Water Products traded as high as $18.13 and last traded at $18.11. 49,784 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average session volume of 1,204,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.56.

MWA has been the subject of several other reports. Baird R W upgraded Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.75.

Insider Activity

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 2,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,827. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total value of $127,101.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $540,896.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 4,422 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 345,700.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.97.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. The business had revenue of $353.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.63%.

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.