Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) to Issue $0.07 Quarterly Dividend

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.067 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th.

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 20.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Mueller Water Products to earn $1.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.6%.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $27.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $13.67 and a twelve month high of $28.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

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.