Fmr LLC Purchases 37,095 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 908,970 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,095 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 0.58% of Mueller Water Products worth $19,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $53,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 24.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% in the third 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 194.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 682,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Mueller Water Products stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,774,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,340. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.93. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.49 and a 1 year high of $26.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.