Royce & Associates LP Has $49.48 Million Position in Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI)

Royce & Associates LP lessened its position in Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 623,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50,790 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Mueller Industries were worth $49,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MLI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 27.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,469,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,907,000 after buying an additional 315,490 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 135.7% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 508,333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,341,000 after buying an additional 292,697 shares during the period. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,376,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 77.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 393,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,152,000 after buying an additional 171,671 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 343.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 197,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,613,000 after buying an additional 152,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Northcoast Research raised Mueller Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Mueller Industries Price Performance

Shares of Mueller Industries stock opened at $79.62 on Friday. Mueller Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $50.85 and a one year high of $96.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $80.15 and its 200 day moving average is $79.01. The firm has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Mueller Industries had a return on equity of 22.97% and a net margin of 16.05%.

Mueller Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Mueller Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Mueller Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Activity at Mueller Industries

In other Mueller Industries news, Director Scott Jay Goldman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.81, for a total value of $798,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,098 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Industries Company 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.