Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Stake Lessened by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 55,248 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 45,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 17,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $25.07 on Monday. 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 cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.81 and a 52 week high of $28.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.23.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

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.