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

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $25.00 to $29.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on MWA. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $27.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.35. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $13.67 and a 12 month high of $28.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

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

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,644,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,004,000 after acquiring an additional 662,637 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth $12,757,000. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth $9,780,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.