Head-To-Head Comparison: MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA) versus Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI)

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA) and Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS and Valmont Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS	10.48%	21.31%	10.86%
Valmont Industries	8.55%	22.27%	10.09%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.7% of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.8% of Valmont Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Valmont Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS and Valmont Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS	0	3	1	0	2.25
Valmont Industries	0	1	2	0	2.67

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS presently has a consensus price target of $26.25, indicating a potential upside of 8.14%. Valmont Industries has a consensus price target of $362.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.82%. Given Valmont Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Valmont Industries is more favorable than MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS.

Dividends

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Valmont Industries pays an annual dividend of $2.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valmont Industries pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Valmont Industries has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS and Valmont Industries”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS	$1.31 billion	2.89	$115.90 million	$0.91	26.68
Valmont Industries	$4.08 billion	1.64	$348.26 million	$17.18	19.39

Valmont Industries has higher revenue and earnings than MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS. Valmont Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valmont Industries has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Valmont Industries beats MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Water Flow Solutions segment provides valves for water systems, such as iron gate, butterfly, tapping, check, knife, plug, and ball valves, which are used to control distribution and transmission of potable water and non-potable water, as well as in water transmission or distribution, water treatment facilities, or industrial applications. It also offers service brass products. The Water Management Solutions segment offers dry-barrel and wet-barrel fire hydrants for water infrastructure development; fire protection systems, and water infrastructure repair and replacement projects; pipe repair products, such as couplings, grips, and clamps used to repair leaks; residential, fire line, and commercial water metering products, systems, and services; water leak detection and pipe condition assessment products and services; machines and tools for tapping, drilling, extracting, installing, and stopping-off; gas valve products for use in gas distribution systems; and intelligent water solutions, including pressure control valves, advanced pressure management, network analytics, event management, and date logging. It sells its products under the Canada Valve, Centurion, Ez-Max, Hydro Gate, Hydro-Guard, HYMAX, HYMAX VERSA, Jones, Krausz, Milliken, Mueller, Pratt, Pratt Industrial, Repamax, Repaflex, Singer, Echologics, Echoshore, ePulse, Hersey, LeakFinderRT, LeakFinderST, LeakListener, LeakTuner, Mi.Echo, Mi.Net, Mueller Systems, Sentryx, and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant brands. Mueller Water Products, Inc. was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc. operates as manufacturer of products and services for infrastructure and agriculture markets in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Infrastructure and Agriculture. The company manufactures and distributes steel, pre-stressed concrete, composite structures for electrical transmission, substation, and distribution applications; and designs, engineers, and manufactures metal, steel, wood, aluminum, and composite poles and structures for lighting and transportation applications. It also offers galvanizing, anodizing, painting, and powder coating services for paint products; towers, small cell structures, camouflage concealment solutions, passive intermodulation mitigation equipment, and components for wireless communication markets; and solar single-axis tracker product, an integrated system of steel structures, electric motors, and electronic controllers, as well as provides coatings services to preserve metal products. In addition, the company manufactures center pivot components and linear irrigation equipment for the agricultural markets, such as parts and tubular products for industrial customers; advanced technology solutions for agricultural sector; mechanical irrigation equipment and service parts under the Valley brand name. It serves municipalities and government entities, commercial lighting fixtures manufacturing companies, contractors, telecommunications and utility companies, and farmers, as well as the general manufacturing sector. Valmont Industries, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.