Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,069 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.27% of Mueller Water Products worth $76,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,317,000 after buying an additional 12,438 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $53,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 24.6% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $42,200,000 after purchasing an additional 37,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
MWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.20.
Get Our Latest Research Report on MWA
In other Mueller Water Products news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 9,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
MWA opened at $22.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 36.99%.
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.
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