Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Given “Outperform” Rating at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $27.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $26.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MWA. TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,442,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,083. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.63 and its 200 day moving average is $19.78. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $12.59 and a twelve month high of $25.71.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 35.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 121,616 shares of company stock valued at $2,390,796. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 193,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 21,604 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 76,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 11,463 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth about $46,000. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth about $608,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth $452,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.