Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 55,523 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 275,970 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 55,523 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.18% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted 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 valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted 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 valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. The trade was a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 3.9 %

NYSE:MWA traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.44. 448,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,486,513. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.81 and a twelve month high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.80.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 31.40%.

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.