Swiss National Bank Sells 3,200 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 304,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 399.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,093,000 after buying an additional 2,369,055 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 395,123 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,915,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after acquiring an additional 682,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $25.26 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.46. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 35.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MWA. 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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. Finally, TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $967,848.66. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.