Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 109,718 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 109,718 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.19% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value 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. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.90 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.81 and a 52-week high of $28.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

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

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.