Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Plans $0.06 Quarterly Dividend

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 24th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of 0.064 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th.

Mueller Water Products has raised its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years. Mueller Water Products has a dividend payout ratio of 27.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Mueller Water Products to earn $1.00 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 26.0%.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE MWA traded up $0.41 on Thursday, hitting $20.39. 1,675,864 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,227,192. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $12.11 and a 12 month high of $20.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.44 and a 200-day moving average of $16.52.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MWA. Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

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.