The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Stock Price

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $26.00 to $29.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.12% from the stock’s current price.

MWA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.4 %

Mueller Water Products stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,905,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,368. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.31. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $13.64 and a 1-year high of $28.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33.

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

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $967,848.66. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted 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 period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted 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 period. Diversified Trust Co boosted 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 period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 726 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.