Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stock Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36,434 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.15% of Mueller Water Products worth $5,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $146,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $25.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.95 and a 200-day moving average of $22.96. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

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.