Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 2,949 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,949 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 77,467 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 364.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 401,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,716,000 after buying an additional 315,224 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the third quarter valued at $1,487,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $671,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,200,000 after acquiring an additional 37,729 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company 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 stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.65. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.81 and a 1 year high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.