Mueller Water Products $MWA Stock Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 416,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,249 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.27% of Mueller Water Products worth $8,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 4.7% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 14,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 22.5% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 56,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 10,444 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 18.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,726 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 33,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MWA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $23.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.60 and its 200 day moving average is $25.83. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $20.90 and a 52 week high of $31.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.64.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The business had revenue of $395.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 19.86%.

Mueller Water Products announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to buy back $300 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total transaction of $291,923.04. Following the sale, the director owned 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $746,865.52. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total value of $1,055,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,052.84. The trade was a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.