Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian C. Healy Purchases 1,085 Shares

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.32 per share, with a total value of $27,472.20. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,178.40. The trade was a 8.02% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.64 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $28.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.77. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,795,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $503,201,000 after buying an additional 2,840,895 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 66.2% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,401,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,296,000 after buying an additional 2,152,096 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 21.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,052,000 after buying an additional 865,977 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,174,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,936,000 after buying an additional 596,956 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 21.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,651,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,817,000 after buying an additional 636,331 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.