Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

MWA has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $16.23 on Wednesday. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $12.11 and a fifty-two week high of $16.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.45.

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

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.00%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.09, for a total value of $42,252.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,408.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.09, for a total transaction of $42,252.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,208 shares in the company, valued at $48,408.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.42 per share, with a total value of $154,200.00. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 69,458 shares of company stock valued at $1,052,260 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the third quarter valued at $213,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 159,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth about $408,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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. Hedge funds and other 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.