Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 94.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,600 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MWA. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 3.1% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the firm’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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MWA shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.04 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.08 and a 52-week high of $26.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.04 and a 200-day moving average of $20.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.62%.

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.