Perpetual Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)

Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384,369 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 75,738 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd owned about 0.25% of Mueller Water Products worth $9,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 73.1% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 14,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,178.40. This represents a 8.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $24.44. The stock had a trading volume of 874,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,596,524. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.78 and a 200 day moving average of $24.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.