Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 16,615 Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,615 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $20,996,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,688,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $60,502,000 after purchasing an additional 888,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 514.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,826,000 after purchasing an additional 812,127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA stock opened at $23.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.79. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The company had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired 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 now directly owns 14,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $370,178.40. This trade represents a 8.02% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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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