Wedbush Securities Inc. Invests $239,000 in Mueller Water Products $MWA

Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 9,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,795,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $503,201,000 after buying an additional 2,840,895 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,401,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,096 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 21.6% in the first 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. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 95.4% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,212,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,440,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,038,000 after buying an additional 383,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 2.2%

MWA stock opened at $23.03 on Friday. Mueller Water Products has a fifty-two week low of $21.35 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $237.40 million during the quarter. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 10.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 1,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.91, for a total value of $34,660.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,532.33. This trade represents a 62.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 24,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total transaction of $627,730.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 86,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,253,162.45. This represents a 21.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,043 shares of company stock valued at $682,483. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.