Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Position Lowered by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments lowered its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 14,629 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments' holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MWA. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $197,456,000 after buying an additional 791,569 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $76,809,000 after acquiring an additional 73,069 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,952,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,926,000 after purchasing an additional 7,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

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Mueller Water Products Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $26.28. 2,936,927 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,452,889. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.81 and a twelve month high of $28.58. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.39. 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's fifty day moving average price is $25.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.80.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of 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 target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.