Nuance Investments LLC Sells 3,375,069 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Nuance Investments LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 64.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,833,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,375,069 shares during the period. Mueller Water Products makes up about 1.3% of Nuance Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $39,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MWA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.5% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,143,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,571,000 after acquiring an additional 15,346 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 399.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 24.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,838,000 after acquiring an additional 395,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,915,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.1 %

Mueller Water Products stock opened at $24.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.08 and a 52 week high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.067 dividend. This is an increase from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MWA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen cut Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.20.

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.