Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 1,170,683 Shares of Mueller Water Products $MWA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,393,293 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,170,683 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $35,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MWA. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,535,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203,088 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 19.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,825,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $140,042,000 after buying an additional 945,258 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 21.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,449,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,987,000 after buying an additional 796,596 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 344.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 945,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,733,000 after buying an additional 732,669 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 608.1% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 573,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,778,000 after buying an additional 492,200 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,070 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.78 per share, with a total value of $27,584.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 16,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $433,104. This trade represents a 6.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 15,094 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.62, for a total transaction of $371,614.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 85,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,115,276.54. The trade was a 14.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.5%

MWA opened at $24.86 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.00. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $21.35 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.17.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $237.40 million during the quarter. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 22.75% and a net margin of 13.41%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 23.14%.

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.