Mueller Water Products $MWA Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its stake in Mueller Water Products by 15.8%, selling 101,797 shares and leaving it with 542,468 shares worth about $13.84 million (0.35% ownership).
• Other institutions reshuffled positions—most notably Assenagon Asset Management boosted its holding by 525.9% to 1,393,293 shares (~$35.56M)—and institutional investors now own 91.68% of the company.
• Analysts give an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $31.33; Mueller recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.29 vs. $0.27) and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.07 (~1.0% yield).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 542,468 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 101,797 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.35% of Mueller Water Products worth $13,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,393,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,557,000 after buying an additional 1,170,683 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $692,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 62.3% in the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 930,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $23,739,000 after acquiring an additional 357,087 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $1,781,000. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 106.6% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 71,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 36,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MWA. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 target price on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.33.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $27.07 on Friday. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $22.01 and a 1 year high of $31.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 4.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.15. The company's fifty day moving average is $28.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.08.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 22.34%. The business had revenue of $318.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 10,720 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.61, for a total value of $295,979.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 64,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,209.97. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.41 per share, for a total transaction of $27,461.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 17,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $437,549.25. This trade represents a 6.70% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc is a leading provider of water infrastructure and flow control products and services designed to help water utilities and municipalities manage, control and measure their water distribution systems. The company's portfolio includes a comprehensive range of products such as fire hydrants, valves, pipe repair systems, fittings and couplings, along with advanced metering and monitoring solutions. By combining traditional mechanical components with digital technologies, Mueller Water Products addresses the critical need for reliable and sustainable water distribution across North America.

The company's operations are organized around two primary business segments.

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