Yousif Capital Management LLC Takes $1.49 Million Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 58,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,366 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,996,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,688,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,502,000 after acquiring an additional 888,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 514.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,826,000 after acquiring an additional 812,127 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.32 per share, for a total transaction of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,178.40. This represents a 8.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total value of $181,228.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $23.45 on Tuesday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.09 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.78.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. Mueller Water Products’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Mueller Water Products 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.