Summit Global Investments Sells 14,629 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Summit Global Investments cut its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,629 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 361.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 208,502 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,467,000 after acquiring an additional 64,399 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,696,000 after acquiring an additional 50,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 347,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,534,000 after acquiring an additional 77,772 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $26.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.28 and its 200 day moving average is $23.65. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 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.