Oppenheimer Increases Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Price Target to $22.00

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its target price boosted by Oppenheimer from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

MWA has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, June 22nd. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.75.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA opened at $18.17 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $12.11 and a 12-month high of $19.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.97.

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

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $976,247.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,992 shares in the company, valued at $660,648.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $976,247.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,992 shares in the company, valued at $660,648.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $1,509,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $14,642,000. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 43.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 256,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 77,810 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $1,018,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 17,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.