Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 2,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 10,800 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 5,387.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 220,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,784,000 after buying an additional 216,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $26.81 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.63. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 31.40%.

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.