Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Purchased by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC raised its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 384,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 60,270 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $8,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $53,093,000 after buying an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,838,000 after acquiring an additional 395,123 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,200,000 after acquiring 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% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,915,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.2 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.30 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $13.45 and a one year high of $26.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,295 shares of company stock valued at $1,840,956. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MWA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.