Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Given New $29.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its price objective boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA opened at $27.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Mueller Water Products has a 12 month low of $13.64 and a 12 month high of $28.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 45,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.