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

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $25.00 to $29.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.11% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $27.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $13.67 and a 12 month high of $28.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.50 and its 200-day moving average is $22.35.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.