ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 134,249 Shares of Mueller Water Products $MWA

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 47.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 416,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 134,249 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $8,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $60,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter worth $121,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA stock opened at $23.63 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. Mueller Water Products has a 52-week low of $20.90 and a 52-week high of $31.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.64.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.11. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The company had revenue of $395.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 19.86%.

Mueller Water Products declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to buy back $300 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MWA. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Mueller Water Products from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 12,048 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.23, for a total transaction of $291,923.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $746,865.52. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total value of $1,055,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,052.84. The trade was a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.