MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 457,011 Shares of Mueller Water Products $MWA

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC significantly increased its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 482.0% during the 1st quarter, bringing its ownership to approximately 551,824 shares valued at $14 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS, with one upgrade from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, and a consensus target price of $28.33.
• The company reported $380.30 million in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, despite a slight miss on earnings per share.

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 482.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 551,824 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 457,011 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Mueller Water Products worth $14,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,206 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Mariner LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the 4th 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. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 67.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 19,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,775 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 83,073 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 27,113 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.33.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 2.2%

NYSE:MWA traded down $0.59 on Friday, hitting $26.34. 801,532 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,759,961. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $19.23 and a 1 year high of $28.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.32. The company has a current ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $380.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $366.82 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 10.67%.The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Mueller Water Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,110 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.74 per share, with a total value of $27,461.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $389,160.20. This trade represents a 7.59% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 1,288 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.91, for a total value of $34,660.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,532.33. This represents a 62.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,914 shares of company stock valued at $889,727 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.