Mueller Water Products $MWA Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 14.4% in Q1, owning 100,713 shares valued at $2.56 million.
• Institutional investors now hold 91.68% of Mueller Water Products' stock, with Vanguard Group leading with a 16.8% increase in their stake.
• Mueller Water Products recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.067 per share, reflecting a 1.0% yield and a payout ratio of 28.72%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 14.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,713 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,713 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Mueller Water Products worth $2,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,795,482 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $503,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840,895 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,108 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $124,052,000 after acquiring an additional 865,977 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,651,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,817,000 after acquiring an additional 636,331 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 95.4% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,212,850 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $81,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,247 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 49.4% in 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 during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.45. The stock had a trading volume of 234,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,756,377. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.32. Mueller Water Products has a twelve month low of $19.23 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The firm had revenue of $380.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Mueller Water Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 8,621 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.37, for a total value of $227,335.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,067.57. The trade was a 91.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.74 per share, for a total transaction of $27,461.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 15,730 shares in the company, valued at $389,160.20. The trade was a 7.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.33.

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.