Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a buy rating to a hold rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MWA opened at $19.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $12.13 and a 52-week high of $21.51.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 32,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.