Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New Investment 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) during 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.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MWA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 341.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 434.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at $967,848.66. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $24.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.08 and a 12 month high of $26.28.

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

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

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

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.