Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Oppenheimer

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $19.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.86% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $15.34 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $12.11 and a 1-year high of $16.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $256.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.64 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.42 per share, with a total value of $154,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 80,603 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,898.26. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.42 per share, with a total value of $154,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 80,603 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,898.26. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.09, for a total transaction of $42,252.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,408.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,419 shares of company stock valued at $1,135,416. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 580.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 12,719 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 11,270 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 75,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 21,068 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,116,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 76,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 27,589 shares during the last quarter. 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.