Nuance Investments LLC Sells 1,508,021 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Nuance Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 82.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,196 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,508,021 shares during the quarter. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.21% of Mueller Water Products worth $7,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $381,478,000 after buying an additional 378,356 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $85,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,438 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 73,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE MWA traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,748,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,875. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.89. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.81 and a 1 year high of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm'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 value of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.