First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products $MWA

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 34.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,036,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,530,193 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $165,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $75,400,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 112.2% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,267,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,099,000 after buying an additional 1,198,801 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 344.1% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 945,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,733,000 after buying an additional 732,669 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $15,547,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $15,192,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.33 per share, for a total transaction of $29,965.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,882.18. The trade was a 4.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $24.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 2.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.99. Mueller Water Products has a 1 year low of $22.74 and a 1 year high of $31.00.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 22.11% and a net margin of 14.17%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.37%.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc is a leading provider of water infrastructure and flow control products and services designed to help water utilities and municipalities manage, control and measure their water distribution systems. The company’s portfolio includes a comprehensive range of products such as fire hydrants, valves, pipe repair systems, fittings and couplings, along with advanced metering and monitoring solutions. By combining traditional mechanical components with digital technologies, Mueller Water Products addresses the critical need for reliable and sustainable water distribution across North America.

The company’s operations are organized around two primary business segments.