Swiss National Bank Increases Stock Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 306,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% during 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 during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MWA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.81 and a 52-week high of $28.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.28 and a 200 day moving average of $23.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.