Nuance Investments LLC Sells 1,508,021 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Nuance Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 82.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 325,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,508,021 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $7,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 511,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,891 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $381,478,000 after acquiring an additional 378,356 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $911,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $698,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.53 on Wednesday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.81 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.47 and a 200 day moving average of $23.78.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Profile

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.