Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,478,507 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 484,250 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,478,507 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Mueller Water Products worth $10,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 8,617.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,882 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 21,631 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,904 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.5% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,143,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,571,000 after purchasing an additional 15,346 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.97. 901,925 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,258,503. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $22.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 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 19.71%. The firm had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Mueller Water Products's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,328,282. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.