Mueller Water Products $MWA Stock Sold by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Mueller Water Products stake by 88.4% in the second quarter, leaving it with 11,510 shares valued at approximately $297,000. Institutional investors collectively own 91.68% of the company.
• Mueller Water Products exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.50 in EPS versus the $0.39 consensus estimate and revenue of $395.9 million, up 4.1% year over year. The company also pays a $0.07 quarterly dividend, yielding about 1.3%.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $28.40 target price; price targets range from $21 to $35. Insider activity was also mixed, as a director bought shares while the CEO sold 40,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Engineers Gate Manager LP lessened its stake in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 88.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,510 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 87,521 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MWA. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth approximately $121,000. 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 Healy bought 1,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.33 per share, with a total value of $29,965.39. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 24,946 shares in the company, valued at $631,882.18. This represents a 4.98% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Paul McAndrew sold 40,000 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $1,055,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,052.84. This represents a 48.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 52,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,685 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MWA opened at $21.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $21.33 and a 12-month high of $31.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.01.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $395.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.49 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 23.55%. Mueller Water Products's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MWA. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Mueller Water Products from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Barclays started coverage on Mueller Water Products in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price target on Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.40.

Mueller Water Products Company Profile

Mueller Water Products, Inc designs and manufactures products used to support the operation, maintenance, and monitoring of water distribution and wastewater infrastructure. Its offerings include gate, butterfly, and check valves; fire hydrants; pipe fittings; and related products used to control and manage the flow of water through municipal and other utility systems.

The company also provides technologies and services intended to help utilities monitor their networks, identify leaks, improve asset management, and enhance operational efficiency.

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