KBC Group NV Sells 903,696 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 36.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,545,802 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 903,696 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.99% of Mueller Water Products worth $33,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.7% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 757,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,193,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,528,000 after buying an additional 682,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 13.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 694,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,175,000 after buying an additional 83,567 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 191,210 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,077,000 after purchasing an additional 31,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,077,000. 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 Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MWA shares. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MWA stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.31. The company had a trading volume of 874,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,987. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.09 and a 200 day moving average of $20.09.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

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.