Intech Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 30,940 Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 694,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,175,000 after purchasing an additional 83,567 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 24.1% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 75,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 14,566 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $3,077,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth about $346,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth about $346,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 in the company, valued at $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MWA has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MWA opened at $25.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.62. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.08 and a 1 year high of $26.28. 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 (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 35.62%.

About Mueller Water Products

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.