JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $23.53 Million Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,045,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,922 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.67% of Mueller Water Products worth $23,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA opened at $24.87 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.13. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.81 and a 52-week high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 30.23%.

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.