Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires 8,326 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 95.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,326 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.81 and a 12 month high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

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.