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 company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, reaching $26.58. 4,071,229 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,256,757. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.81 and a fifty-two week high of $28.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.27.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on MWA shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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 lifted 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 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth approximately $552,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $342,000. Palisades Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth about $5,362,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $362,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 516,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,616,000 after purchasing an additional 66,243 shares during the last quarter. 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.