Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $2.30 Million in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 102,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,297,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Mueller Water Products as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

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

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $26.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.81 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.63.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 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.