Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Purchases 500 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Mueller Water Products worth $3,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MWA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 193,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after acquiring an additional 21,604 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 76,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,463 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $408,000. Finally, Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $608,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $691,898.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $2,751,046.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA stock opened at $21.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.44. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.13 and a twelve month high of $23.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

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.