Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires 8,326 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 95.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,326 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 77,467 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 364.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 401,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,716,000 after acquiring an additional 315,224 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $1,487,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $671,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,200,000 after acquiring an additional 37,729 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. 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 cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.63. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.