Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Price Target Raised to $29.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $25.00 to $29.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.92% from the company’s current price.

MWA has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.40.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.64. 1,728,857 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,413,862. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $13.64 and a 52 week high of $28.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.31.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $967,848.66. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,775,000 after buying an additional 208,502 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,467,000 after purchasing an additional 64,399 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $451,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 347,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after purchasing an additional 77,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

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.