Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 522 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 208,502 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 19.8% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,467,000 after purchasing an additional 64,399 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $451,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 347,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after buying an additional 77,772 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $26.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.47. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.81 and a 1-year high of $28.25.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. The trade was a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.