Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Trading Down 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) shares traded down 3.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $22.00 and last traded at $21.8750. 251,676 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,171,327 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.40.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.9%

The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The firm had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian Healy purchased 1,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.33 per share, with a total value of $29,965.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,882.18. This represents a 4.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total value of $1,055,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,052.84. The trade was a 48.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MWA. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $60,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at $121,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc designs and manufactures products used to support the operation, maintenance, and monitoring of water distribution and wastewater infrastructure. Its offerings include gate, butterfly, and check valves; fire hydrants; pipe fittings; and related products used to control and manage the flow of water through municipal and other utility systems.

The company also provides technologies and services intended to help utilities monitor their networks, identify leaks, improve asset management, and enhance operational efficiency.