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

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,670,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the November 15th total of 3,190,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $346,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth $259,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,915,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MWA opened at $24.30 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.76 and its 200 day moving average is $21.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.37. 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 has a 1 year low of $13.49 and a 1 year high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.067 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 35.62%.

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.