Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Price

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $25.00 to $29.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $26.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,988,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,500,106. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $14.81 and a 1-year high of $28.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position 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 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.