Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 117,327 Shares of Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,705,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,327 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mueller Industries were worth $214,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Industries in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Industries during the third quarter worth about $41,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mueller Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, City State Bank bought a new stake in Mueller Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 94.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Northcoast Research raised shares of Mueller Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Mueller Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLI opened at $70.67 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.99. Mueller Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $50.85 and a one year high of $96.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.96.

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Mueller Industries had a return on equity of 22.97% and a net margin of 16.05%.

Mueller Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Mueller Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Mueller Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Jay Goldman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.81, for a total transaction of $798,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,477,181.38. The trade was a 15.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Industries

Mueller Industries, Inc manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples.