Brian C. Healy Purchases 1,115 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Stock

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $24,886.80. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,044.80. The trade was a 22.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $22.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.49 and a 1 year high of $26.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.68.

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

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 399.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth about $13,031,000. Robeco Schweiz AG acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $9,154,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 281.7% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 663,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,895,000 after purchasing an additional 489,902 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.