Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 131,700 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Two Sigma Advisers LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 488,744 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 131,700 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.31% of Mueller Water Products worth $10,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position 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 last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Mueller Water Products stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.61. 154,562 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,914. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.09 and a 52 week 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 has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $25.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.85.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This trade represents a 60.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.32 per share, for a total transaction of $27,472.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $370,178.40. This represents a 8.02% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,600 shares of company stock worth $914,076. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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 raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.