Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Stock Position Increased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 256.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,348 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,475 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 341.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $24.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,114,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,088. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $13.08 and a one year high of $26.28. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $22.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. Mueller Water Products's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products 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.