Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 190,878 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 273.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,704 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 190,878 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.17% of Mueller Water Products worth $5,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of 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 4th quarter worth $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE MWA traded down $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $24.62. 914,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,572,822. The company's 50-day moving average price is $25.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.09 and a 52-week high of $28.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. Mueller Water Products's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,085 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.32 per share, for a total transaction of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $370,178.40. The trade was a 8.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,600 shares of company stock valued at $914,076. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.25.

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.