Perpetual Ltd Reduces Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Perpetual Ltd cut its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 308,631 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,559 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned about 0.20% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,438 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,838,000 after purchasing an additional 395,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,944,715 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,200,000 after purchasing an additional 37,729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.56. 1,059,088 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,202,522. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.49 and a 12-month high of $26.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products 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.