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

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

MWA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $22.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $12.13 and a 1 year high of $23.12.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.