Sifting through countless of stocks in the Machinery industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc.

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, Canada, 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 protection, and commercial water metering products and systems; 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 Systems, Mueller, Pratt, Pratt Industrial, Repamax, Repaflex, Singer, Echologics, Echoshore, ePulse, Hersey, LeakFinderRT, Sentryx, and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant brands. Mueller Water Products, Inc. was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Helios Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered motion control and electronic controls technology solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through two segments; Hydraulics and Electronics. The Hydraulics segment designs and manufactures hydraulic motion control and fluid conveyance technology products, including cartridge valves, manifolds, and quick release couplings, as well as engineers complete hydraulic system solutions. This segment sells its products under the Sun Hydraulics, Faster, NEM, Taimi, Daman, and Schultes brands. The Electronics segment designs and manufactures customized electronic controls systems, displays, wire harnesses, and software solutions. This segment sells its products under Enovation Controls, Murphy, Zero Off, HCT, Balboa Water Group, i3PD and Cygnus Reach and Joyonway brands. It markets and sells hydraulic products and engineered solutions through value-added distributors, as well as directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); and electronic products to OEMs, distributors, and system integrators. It serves construction, material handling, agriculture, industrial, mobile, energy, recreational vehicles, marine, aerospace, and health and wellness sectors. The company was formerly known as Sun Hydraulics Corporation and changed its name to Helios Technologies, Inc. in June 2019. Helios Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida.

Latest Machinery and Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies, Inc. Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Mueller Water Products, Inc. had a $3.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Machinery median of $3.9 million. Mueller Water Products, Inc.’s stock is up 6% in 2026, up 0.8% in the previous five trading days and up 3.53% in the past year.

Currently, Mueller Water Products, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 19.1. Mueller Water Products, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.5 billion with a 14.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.477 per share for the current fiscal year. Mueller Water Products, Inc. currently has a 1.1% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Helios Technologies, Inc. had a $2.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 57th percentile of all stocks. Helios Technologies, Inc.’s stock is up 45.7% in 2026, down 2.4% in the previous five trading days and up 111.65% in the past year.

Currently, Helios Technologies, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 42.8. Helios Technologies, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $871.9 million with a 7.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 16.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.936 per share for the current fiscal year. Helios Technologies, Inc. currently has a 0.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Mueller Water Products, Inc.	MWA	D
Helios Technologies, Inc.	HLIO	D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a Value Score of 36, which is Expensive. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a Value Score of 31, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Mueller Water Products, Inc.	MWA	A
Helios Technologies, Inc.	HLIO	B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a Growth Score of 77, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Mueller Water Products, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Helios Technologies, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Mueller Water Products, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Mueller Water Products, Inc.	MWA	C
Helios Technologies, Inc.	HLIO	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 60, which is Neutral. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 77, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Helios Technologies, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Helios Technologies, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Mueller Water Products, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Helios Technologies, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc. Grades

In addition to Value, Growth and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Mueller Water Products, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 36, Growth Score of 100 and Estimate Revisions Score of 60.

Helios Technologies, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 31, Growth Score of 77 and Estimate Revisions Score of 77.

Comparing Mueller Water Products, Inc., Helios Technologies and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.