Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,069 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $76,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,438 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $35,838,000 after buying an additional 395,123 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 37,729 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MWA shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $22.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.49 and a fifty-two week high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 1.17%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.