Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 83,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,576 shares during the period. Mueller Water Products comprises 0.6% of Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MWA. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 77,467 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after buying an additional 208,502 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 19.8% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 390,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,467,000 after buying an additional 64,399 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the third quarter worth about $451,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 347,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,534,000 after acquiring an additional 77,772 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at $234,356.22. The trade was a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MWA has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE MWA opened at $24.87 on Friday. 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

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.