American Century Companies Inc. Has $46.27 Million Stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 55.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,056,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 730,442 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.31% of Mueller Water Products worth $46,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in 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, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $26.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.82. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.81 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.