Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Sets New 1-Year High Following Strong Earnings

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $18.99 and last traded at $18.25, with a volume of 546509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.55.

The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Six 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 a consensus target price of $20.00.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.42 per share, for a total transaction of $154,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,898.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van purchased 10,000 shares of Mueller Water Products 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 directly owns 80,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,898.26. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $560,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at $623,892.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MWA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $1,018,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth $408,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 582,795 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 5.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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.