American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 730,442 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 55.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,056,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 730,442 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $46,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the 4th 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. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA opened at $26.28 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.