Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 2,962.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $67,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,775,000 after buying an additional 208,502 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,467,000 after purchasing an additional 64,399 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth $451,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 28.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 347,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after buying an additional 77,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 256.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 30,475 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.81 and a 200 day moving average of $22.77. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.81 and a 12 month high of $28.25.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,642 shares of company stock valued at $2,230,844 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MWA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.