Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) by 167.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mueller Industries were worth $554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Mueller Industries by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Mueller Industries by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Industries by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Industries by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Industries by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. 94.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mueller Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLI opened at $77.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.99. Mueller Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.85 and a 1-year high of $96.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $80.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.31.

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

Mueller Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Mueller Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Mueller Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Industries news, Director Scott Jay Goldman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.81, for a total transaction of $798,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,477,181.38. This represents a 15.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mueller Industries Profile

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.