Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Cuts Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lowered its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,210,156 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 36,687 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. owned about 1.41% of Mueller Water Products worth $49,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 94,813 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 worth $93,936,000 after purchasing an additional 596,956 shares during the period. Mariner LLC bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 295,429 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,647,000 after purchasing an additional 29,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on 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. 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, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE MWA traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $26.23. 987,692 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,579,478. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.84 and a 12 month 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.40. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.