Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $27.00 target price on the industrial products company's stock, up from their prior target price of $26.00. Oppenheimer's price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.12% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 6.9 %

MWA stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.69. 2,442,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,873. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $12.59 and a twelve month high of $25.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $691,898.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $10,630,326.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 121,616 shares of company stock worth $2,390,796. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $1,487,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 189.4% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 114,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,491,000 after acquiring an additional 75,144 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 364.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 401,683 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,716,000 after acquiring an additional 315,224 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 256.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,348 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 30,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $451,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.