Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Cut to “Hold” at TD Cowen

TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has $20.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $19.00.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MWA. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.44. The stock had a trading volume of 251,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,490. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $12.13 and a fifty-two week high of $21.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 2,650 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 2,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at $50,827. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $127,101.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at $540,896.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 4,422 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.