Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 16,615 MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,615 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,455 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 275,970 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,209,000 after purchasing an additional 55,523 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 150,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 64,163 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 2,962.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,838,000 after buying an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,085 shares of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.32 per share, with a total value of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $370,178.40. The trade was a 8.02% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $181,228.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.25.

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS Trading Down 0.2%

MWA stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.38. 1,482,912 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,587,677. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 2.49. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS has a fifty-two week low of $17.09 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.76.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

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.