Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $25.05, but opened at $25.60. Mueller Water Products shares last traded at $26.30, with a volume of 792,945 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.45 and its 200-day moving average is $23.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $381,478,000 after purchasing an additional 378,356 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $197,456,000 after purchasing an additional 791,569 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,174,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,936,000 after purchasing an additional 596,956 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 79.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,317,000 after acquiring an additional 12,438 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.