Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $1.31 Million Stake in Mueller Water Products $MWA

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,315 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 16.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,795,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $503,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840,895 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 66.2% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,401,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,096 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 21.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,052,000 after acquiring an additional 865,977 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 95.4% during the first 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. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 18.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,440,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,038,000 after acquiring an additional 383,884 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MWA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.33.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

NYSE:MWA opened at $26.05 on Thursday. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $21.35 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.86.

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

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 29.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,070 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.78 per share, with a total value of $27,584.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,800 shares in the company, valued at $433,104. The trade was a 6.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 24,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,253,162.45. This represents a 21.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,664 shares of company stock valued at $909,819. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.