Synovus Financial Corp Grows Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,724 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $414,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,809,000 after purchasing an additional 73,069 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 19.8% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,467,000 after purchasing an additional 64,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 361.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 208,502 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MWA shares. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 2.7 %

MWA opened at $23.88 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.37. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.49 and a 52 week high of $26.28. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.11.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 35.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.