BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 74,499 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 74,499 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.17% of Mueller Water Products worth $6,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MWA traded up $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $25.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,133,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,427. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $28.58. 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 50 day moving average price is $25.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The business had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,600 shares of company stock valued at $914,076 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is 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.