Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $65.51 Million Stock Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,911,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 83,527 shares during the period. Mueller Water Products makes up approximately 0.7% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 1.86% of Mueller Water Products worth $65,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $381,478,000 after purchasing an additional 378,356 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,366 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 12,438 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $76,809,000 after purchasing an additional 73,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,898,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,581,043. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.76 and a fifty-two week high of $28.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.08, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $25.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.30.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.