Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian Healy Acquires 1,376 Shares of Company Stock

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian Healy bought 1,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $29,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $572,503.50. This trade represents a 5.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $21.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.64. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $20.90 and a fifty-two week high of $31.00.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%. The firm had revenue of $395.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 19.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays started coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.40.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 34.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,036,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $165,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,193 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,934,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,217,000 after purchasing an additional 714,913 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth $28,496,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 30.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 888,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,438,000 after buying an additional 205,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 354.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 588,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,187,000 after buying an additional 459,393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc develops and manufactures products used to build, maintain and monitor water transmission and distribution systems. Its offerings help utilities and other infrastructure operators control water flow, connect and repair pipelines, manage pressure and identify leaks.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings and repair products, metering and monitoring systems, leak-detection technologies, and related flow-control equipment.