Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 636,331 Shares of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,651,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 636,331 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.33% of MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS worth $92,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 45,215 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 73.1% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 54,437 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MWA stock traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $24.79. The company had a trading volume of 412,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,592,475. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $24.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.79. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS has a twelve month low of $18.05 and a twelve month high of $28.58.

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.30 million. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 10.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS's payout ratio is 29.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.