Barclays PLC Buys 208,502 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 361.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 208,502 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.17% of Mueller Water Products worth $5,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.1% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.20.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.3 %

Mueller Water Products stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,972,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,178. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.49 and a fifty-two week high of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $23.87 and its 200-day moving average is $21.23.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

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.