Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys New Stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after buying an additional 682,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 13.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 694,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,175,000 after acquiring an additional 83,567 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 77,467 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $3,077,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $88,971.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $967,848.66. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:MWA opened at $24.96 on Thursday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.08 and a 52 week high of $26.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.50.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MWA shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

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.