9,548 Shares in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Acquired by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,823 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,696,000 after purchasing an additional 50,119 shares during the period. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 126,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 17,217 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:MWA traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.29. 2,877,312 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,302,126. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.94 and a 200 day moving average of $23.53. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.81 and a twelve month high of $28.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.