Macquarie Reiterates Coverage on Mueller Water on Growth Prospects

In a report published Thursday, Macquarie analyst Mike Wood maintained an Outperform rating on Mueller Water Products, Inc. MWA, with a price target of $26.00.

According to the report, “We are adjusting our FY14 quarterly EPS (no change to annual) to account for the push-out of hydrant sales from F1Q (Dec) to 2H of FY14 due to distributors’ order delays ahead of the vote by the US Senate on 12/17 that ultimately exempted fire hydrants from compliance with the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act.”

Some key points from the report included:

-”Lowering F1Q EPS to -$0.02; no change to FY14.”
-”We are adjusting our FY14 quarterly EPS (no change to annual) to account for the push-out of hydrant sales from F1Q (Dec) to 2H of FY14 due to distributors’ order delays ahead of the vote by the US Senate on 12/17 that ultimately exempted fire hydrants from compliance with the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act.”
-”We expect accelerating TILE order growth into year-end given recent commentary from AWI mgmt about a snap-back in US office demand post-US government shutdown, as well as positive non-residential growth seen in our proprietary distributor survey over the past few months, will serve as a positive catalyst.”

MWA closed Tuesday at $9.33.