Candriam S.C.A. Has $10.31 Million Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 87.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 458,093 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 214,223 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.29% of Mueller Water Products worth $10,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $197,456,000 after purchasing an additional 791,569 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,644,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,004,000 after purchasing an additional 662,637 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,757,000. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,780,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 1.2 %

MWA traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.58. The stock had a trading volume of 4,071,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,256,595. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $24.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.81 and a 1-year high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 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 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.