Insider Selling: Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Sells 17,092 Shares of Stock

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA opened at $26.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.81 and a 1 year high of $28.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.53 and a 200-day moving average of $23.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,552 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,366 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $20,996,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,688,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,502,000 after buying an additional 888,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 514.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,826,000 after buying an additional 812,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

About Mueller Water Products

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.