Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,670,000 shares, a decrease of 16.3% from the November 15th total of 3,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at $346,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,915,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MWA opened at $24.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.04. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.37. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $13.49 and a twelve month high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MWA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

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.