Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Bought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 364.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 315,224 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.26% of Mueller Water Products worth $8,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the first 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. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,093,000 after buying an additional 2,369,055 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 worth $18,528,000 after buying an additional 682,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.08 and a 12 month high of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.50 and its 200-day moving average is $20.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MWA. 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. TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

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.