Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Price Target to $20.00

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "sector perform" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target indicates a potential upside of 5.71% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.00.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 5.1 %

MWA stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,430,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,184,511. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.82 and a 200 day moving average of $14.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $12.11 and a 12 month high of $18.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 6.35%. Mueller Water Products's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $560,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $560,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Insiders sold a total of 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,003,366 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $216,048,000 after purchasing an additional 147,482 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 13,161,657 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $189,528,000 after buying an additional 1,022,785 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,498,710 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $107,981,000 after buying an additional 974,333 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,740,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,069,000 after acquiring an additional 430,572 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,417,005 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $78,006,000 after acquiring an additional 138,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.