Franklin Resources Inc. Has $160.84 Million Stock Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,148,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,470,426 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 4.56% of Mueller Water Products worth $160,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $381,478,000 after purchasing an additional 378,356 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,931,662 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,317,000 after buying an additional 12,438 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $76,809,000 after acquiring an additional 73,069 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,056,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,274,000 after acquiring an additional 730,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock traded down $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.27. 2,125,693 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,575,238. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.81 and a twelve month 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 company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $25.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.