State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 21,316 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 189,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,316 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.12% of Mueller Water Products worth $2,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 4,422 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,708 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at about $110,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at about $127,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at about $143,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $15.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.11 and a 1 year high of $16.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $15.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.40.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 6.35%. The firm had revenue of $256.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $560,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $560,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.09, for a total value of $42,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,408.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,458 shares of company stock worth $1,052,260 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.