Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Strong-Buy"

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 938,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,725. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $12.13 and a fifty-two week high of $23.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70. The business's 50 day moving average price is $21.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.19.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $2,751,046.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,065,549.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,093,000 after buying an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth about $14,040,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,031,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,154,000. 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.

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