Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 296.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,403 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,055 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at $14,642,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,498,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,981,000 after buying an additional 974,333 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth $14,040,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of MWA stock opened at $20.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $12.13 and a one year high of $21.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut 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 report on Friday, August 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products 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.