Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 306,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $6,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,949 shares during the period. PFG Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth $215,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,696,000 after buying an additional 50,119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This represents 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 through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 2.8 %

MWA stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.65.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Mueller Water Products 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.