69,590 Shares in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Purchased by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 69,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,573,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 87,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA stock opened at $25.29 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.88. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $14.81 and a one year high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted 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 prior year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.