EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Sells 143,150 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 39.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 217,505 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 143,150 shares during the quarter. Mueller Water Products comprises 1.4% of EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned 0.14% of Mueller Water Products worth $4,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,954,587 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $381,478,000 after acquiring an additional 378,356 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 16.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 596,956 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,366 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,248,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,102,000 after buying an additional 220,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,838,000 after buying an additional 2,916,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.32 per share, with a total value of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,178.40. This trade represents a 8.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,600 shares of company stock valued at $914,076 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MWA. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on 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 upped their price target on 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.58. 1,014,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,568,926. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $28.58.

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

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

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.