Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 726 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,456 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $189,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on 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 owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 4.5 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.81 and a 52-week high of $28.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 31.40%.

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.