Oppenheimer Upgrades Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) to “Outperform”

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) was upgraded by analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $19.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.97% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on MWA. StockNews.com upgraded Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MWA opened at $15.97 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.61 and a 200 day moving average of $14.20. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $12.11 and a 52-week high of $16.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $256.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.64 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 down 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Paul Mcandrew sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $345,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,701 shares in the company, valued at $100,649.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Paul Mcandrew sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $345,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,701 shares in the company, valued at $100,649.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,018,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at about $213,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 159,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at about $408,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 31.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,440,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,943,000 after purchasing an additional 582,795 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.