Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 399.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.90% of Mueller Water Products worth $53,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at $72,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, September 1st. TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MWA stock traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $19.42. 1,215,212 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,186. 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 capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $19.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.89. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $12.13 and a one year high of $21.51.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.63%.

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.