Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 73,886 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 335,575 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 73,886 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.21% of Mueller Water Products worth $7,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MWA traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.58. 620,118 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,581,740. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.09 and a 52 week high of $28.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $25.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.61.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 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 firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total value of $181,228.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,600 shares of company stock valued at $914,076. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MWA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

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.