Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average of $14.19

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $14.19 and traded as high as $15.50. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $15.34, with a volume of 1,934,374 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.35.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 6.35%. The business had revenue of $256.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total value of $103,997.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,196 shares in the company, valued at $534,141.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total value of $103,997.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,196 shares in the company, valued at $534,141.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.42 per share, with a total value of $154,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,898.26. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $1,018,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth about $213,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 159,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth about $408,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 31.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,440,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,943,000 after purchasing an additional 582,795 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.