Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Purchased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 361.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 208,502 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.17% of Mueller Water Products worth $5,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,438 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 399.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,093,000 after buying an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 24.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,838,000 after acquiring an additional 395,123 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,200,000 after acquiring an additional 37,729 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,915,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $967,848.66. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $22.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.37. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.49 and a 52-week high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

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.