Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $12.76 Million in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 566,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $12,757,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.36% of Mueller Water Products at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake 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. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.90. 30,540,406 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,419,868. The business's 50 day moving average is $25.28 and its 200-day moving average is $23.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.81 and a 1-year high of $28.58.

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Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company'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 owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.