Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $635,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,040,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 279,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,010,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA stock opened at $20.22 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $12.13 and a 1-year high of $21.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, 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 the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.63%.

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.