Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 5,878 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 185,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,878 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $4,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MWA. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 87,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.96. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.81 and a 12-month high of $28.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MWA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.