Mueller Water Products $MWA Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its position in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 40.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 51,000 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 18.9% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,726 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 33,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 23,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 255.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,169 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 5,154 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $24.05 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $20.90 and a 12-month high of $31.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 15.02%. The firm had revenue of $376.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $375.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.86%.

Mueller Water Products announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 22nd that permits the company to buy back $300 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,052.84. This trade represents a 48.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Brian C. Healy bought 1,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $29,928.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 26,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,503.50. The trade was a 5.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 52,598 shares of company stock worth $1,360,685 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc (NYSE:MWA) manufactures products and provides services used in the treatment, transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. Its customers include municipalities, water utilities, distributors, contractors, and industrial organizations.

The company’s product portfolio includes water valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, repair and connection products, and related infrastructure equipment. Through its Echologics business, Mueller also provides acoustic leak-detection technologies and other solutions designed to help utilities monitor and manage water distribution systems.

Mueller Water Products traces its history to Mueller Co, which was founded in 1857.