HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 2,685 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 18.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,685 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at about $72,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 341.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,355 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.2 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $22.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.37. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.49 and a fifty-two week high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 35.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.