Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,397,416 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 128,677 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.81% of Mueller Water Products worth $98,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $381,478,000 after buying an additional 378,356 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $197,456,000 after purchasing an additional 791,569 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,174,938 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $93,936,000 after purchasing an additional 596,956 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $90,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 1.5 %

Mueller Water Products stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $26.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 644,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,576,836. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.88 and a 1 year high of $28.58. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.48. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.80.

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.