Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Given New $20.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its price target upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.00.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,387,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,988. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.33. 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 one year low of $12.11 and a one year high of $19.17.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The firm had revenue of $353.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.064 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total transaction of $103,997.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 34,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,141.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.62, for a total transaction of $103,997.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $534,141.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arsdell Stephen C. Van acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.42 per share, for a total transaction of $154,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 80,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,898.26. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,458 shares of company stock valued at $1,052,260. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 4,422 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,708 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.