ProShare Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 347,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 41,142 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.22% of Mueller Water Products worth $7,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 361.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 208,502 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,696,000 after purchasing an additional 50,119 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 31,931 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 199,716 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,494,000 after purchasing an additional 22,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth $1,573,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $24.50. 190,833 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,568,548. The firm's 50 day moving average is $25.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.83. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $17.09 and a one year high of $28.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 1,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.32 per share, for a total transaction of $27,472.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $370,178.40. The trade was a 8.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $181,228.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,600 shares of company stock valued at $914,076 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.