Mueller Industries Inc (MLI) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Mueller Industries's P/E of 14.1 is above its own 5-year median of 11.0.

P/E below the industry

Mueller Industries's P/E of 14.1 is below the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 22.3.

EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median

Mueller Industries's EV/EBITDA of 9.2 is above its 5-year median of 6.6.

P/B above the industry

Mueller Industries's price-to-book of 3.42 is above the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 3.17.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $55.11 is above our fair value estimate of $53.34.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 3.3% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 1.6% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew 5.6% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings growth not accelerating

Net income grew 15.3% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 40.6% a year.

Growing faster than the industry

Revenue grew 20.8% over the last twelve months; the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median is 18.3%.

Company guidance

No outlook found in earnings releases from the last twelve months.

Gross margin slipping

Gross margin was 27.3% over the last twelve months, against 29.5% a year earlier.

Return on equity over 15%

Return on equity was 26.2% over the last twelve months and averaged 33.8% over five years.

Return on capital over 10%

Return on invested capital was 42.8%, above the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity above the industry

Mueller Industries's return on equity of 26.2% is above the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 15.6%.

Earnings grew over 5 years

Net income grew 40.6% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.

Net margin above its 5-year average

Net margin was 17.3% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 16.2%.

Net margin above the industry

Mueller Industries's net margin of 17.3% is above the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 5.2%.

Low debt

Debt is 0.1% of shareholders' equity, under the 40% we consider low.

Debt falling against equity

Debt to equity fell from 42.2% five years ago to 0.1%.

Debt covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 14690% of total debt.

Interest well covered

Operating income covers interest expense 3259.9 times.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 4.39 times current liabilities.

Low bankruptcy risk

The Altman Z-score is 13.57; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Mueller Industries paid dividends worth 1.2% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 1.2% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Mueller Industries yields 1.2%.

Dividend was cut

The dividend per share fell by more than 10% at least once in the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 16.4% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 20.5% of free cash flow.