UPDATE: Brean Murray Carret Upgrades Mueller Water Products to Buy on Strengthening Momentum

Brean Murray Carret upgraded its rating on Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) from Hold to Buy and established a $5.10 price target.

Brean Murray Carret said, "[R]ecent positive housing end market data points in the United States and the recent contract win to supply American Water Works (AWK, $34.71, Buy) with water meters and AMR systems has led us to reevaluate our investment thesis on the shares of Mueller Water Products.  The aforementioned key points, coupled with the recent divestiture of the U.S. Pipe operations and subsequent strengthening of the balance sheet bode particularly well for the company's short and long‐term outlook. We've raised our forward estimates for FY2012, FY2013 and FY2014, and upgrade the shares to Buy with a $5.10 target price, based on a P/E multiple of 15x our FY2014 EPS estimate of $0.34."

Mueller Water Products closed at $3.51 on Friday.