418,885 Shares in Mueller Water Products $MWA Acquired by Axiom Investors LLC DE

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired 418,885 shares of Mueller Water Products, worth about $10.6 million, representing roughly 0.27% of the company.
• Mueller Water Products announced a quarterly dividend of $0.067 per share, with a 1.0% yield and a payout ratio of 27.66%.
• The company's stock was recently upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus target price of $28.33.

Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 418,885 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $10,648,000. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.27% of Mueller Water Products as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 73.1% in the first 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. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth $42,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 184.6% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.33.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 24,005 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total transaction of $627,730.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 86,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,253,162.45. This trade represents a 21.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.74 per share, for a total transaction of $27,461.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $389,160.20. This represents a 7.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.28. 637,227 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,772,774. The company has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.32. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $19.23 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.86 and a quick ratio of 2.56.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $380.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Mueller Water Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.66%.

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.