Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Short Interest Update

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a drop of 20.8% from the October 15th total of 3,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MWA shares. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 874,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,839. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.12. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $13.08 and a 52-week high of $26.28. 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 company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. This represents a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977 shares during 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.