Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 1.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 924,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,391 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $20,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $26,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,355 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $22.09 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.49 and a 52 week high of $26.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.94 and a 200-day moving average of $21.68.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS 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 dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. 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. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MWA shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report 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 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.com, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

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.