Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 527,186 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 65.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 284,017 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 527,186 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.18% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,997 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 9,061 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 924,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,066,000 after purchasing an additional 12,391 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 369.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 77,467 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $197,456,000 after buying an additional 791,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 25,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 12,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. The trade was a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MWA. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA traded down $0.03 on Monday, reaching $22.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,881,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,972. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $23.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.49 and a 12-month high of $26.28.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.067 dividend. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

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.