Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Acquired by Summit Investment Advisors Inc.

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 361.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 208,502 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 77,467 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 7.7% during the fourth 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. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 57.9% during the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 31,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 11,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 199,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,494,000 after acquiring an additional 22,045 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MWA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $25.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.76 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 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.