Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,069 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.27% of Mueller Water Products worth $76,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $1,897,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,036,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $967,848.66. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.94. 1,972,939 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,178. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 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, Inc. has a one year low of $13.49 and a one year high of $26.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $23.87 and its 200 day moving average is $21.20.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

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.