Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,952,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,567 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.25% of Mueller Water Products worth $43,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $197,456,000 after buying an additional 791,569 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,644,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,004,000 after buying an additional 662,637 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,780,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 382.0% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 537,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,665,000 after purchasing an additional 426,038 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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 increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA opened at $27.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.40. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.81 and a 12-month high of $28.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

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.