Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Has $4.24 Million Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 45.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 158,169 shares during the quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC owned about 0.12% of Mueller Water Products worth $4,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 295,429 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,647,000 after buying an additional 29,274 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $1,147,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $605,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This trade 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 3.2 %

MWA stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 499,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,530. The company's fifty day moving average price is $25.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.76 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

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.