31,000 Shares in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 31,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,125,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,578,603. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. 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 12-month low of $14.81 and a 12-month high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 period last 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This represents 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 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.