Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Position Raised by Lightrock Netherlands B.V.

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 21.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 524,784 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 92,246 shares during the quarter. Mueller Water Products comprises 3.5% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned approximately 0.34% of Mueller Water Products worth $13,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 45.6% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 52,336 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 16,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth approximately $287,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 172,502 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,279 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth approximately $2,205,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,696,000 after purchasing an additional 50,119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total value of $181,228.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.32 per share, with a total value of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $370,178.40. This trade represents a 8.02% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.6%

MWA opened at $24.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.18. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $18.05 and a 1-year high of $28.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $24.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $364.30 million for 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 revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

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.

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