Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Buys New Holdings in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 35,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,366 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $20,996,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,688,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $60,502,000 after acquiring an additional 888,591 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 514.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,826,000 after acquiring an additional 812,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,056,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,274,000 after acquiring an additional 730,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 1.7%

MWA traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $24.38. 1,109,325 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,929,933. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $24.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.72. Mueller Water Products has a 1-year low of $18.05 and a 1-year high of $28.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.18.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

Mueller Water Products 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.