Alberta Investment Management Corp Grows Stock Position in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.6% in Q1, now owning 212,811 shares valued at approximately $5.4 million.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Mueller Water Products from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, with a consensus price target of $26.25.
• The company reported a revenue growth of 3.1% year-over-year for the last quarter, totaling $364.3 million.

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 212,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,095 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Mueller Water Products worth $5,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 73.1% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 11,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 54,437 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $181,228.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.74 per share, with a total value of $27,461.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $389,160.20. This represents a 7.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MWA traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $24.23. 1,475,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,248,570. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $18.55 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.43 and a 200 day moving average of $25.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.18.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is 29.67%.

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.