Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Get Rating) by 72.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,882 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 50,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 88,146 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 18,255 shares in the last quarter. Pendal Group Ltd increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Pendal Group Ltd now owns 346,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 89,761 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,200,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,408,000 after purchasing an additional 17,773 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $242,000. Finally, Mayfair Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.75% of the company's stock.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Seaport Res Ptn restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Mueller Water Products from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.57.

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $15.48 on Thursday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $9.90 and a one year high of $15.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.88.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $332.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.45 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th were issued a $0.061 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 9th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.00%.

Mueller Water Products, Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of products used in the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. It operates through the Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions segments. The Water Flow Solutions segment includes iron gate valves, specialty valves, and service brass products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you consider Mueller Water Products, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Mueller Water Products wasn't on the list.

While Mueller Water Products currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Looking to generate income with your stock portfolio? Use these ten stocks to generate a safe and reliable source of investment income.

Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools:

View the latest news, buy/sell ratings, SEC filings and insider transactions for your stocks. Compare your portfolio performance to leading indices and get personalized stock ideas based on your portfolio.

Get daily stock ideas from top-performing Wall Street analysts. Get short term trading ideas from the MarketBeat Idea Engine. View which stocks are hot on social media with MarketBeat's trending stocks report.

Identify stocks that meet your criteria using seven unique stock screeners. See what's happening in the market right now with MarketBeat's real-time news feed. Export data to Excel for your own analysis.