Brian C. Healy Buys 1,115 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Stock

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,115 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $24,886.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $137,044.80. The trade was a 22.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 1.0 %

MWA traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,005,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,071. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.49 and a 12 month high of $26.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.68. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 35.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 9,061 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 924,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,066,000 after buying an additional 12,391 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $197,456,000 after buying an additional 791,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 100.0% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 25,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 12,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.