Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,916,552 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 2,962.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,916,552 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.93% of Mueller Water Products worth $67,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,780,000. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 382.0% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 537,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,665,000 after purchasing an additional 426,038 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings 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 worth $8,716,000 after purchasing an additional 315,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 5,387.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 220,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,784,000 after buying an additional 216,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $26.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.77. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.81 and a 1-year high of $28.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,642 shares of company stock valued at $2,230,844 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MWA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

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.