Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 4,422 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 2,708 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, abrdn plc purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth about $149,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.09, for a total value of $42,252.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,408.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.09, for a total value of $42,252.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,408.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $560,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,892.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,458 shares of company stock valued at $1,052,260. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

NYSE MWA traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $16.23. The stock had a trading volume of 967,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,888. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.69 and a 200-day moving average of $14.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.29. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.11 and a 52-week high of $16.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The firm had revenue of $256.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.064 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MWA shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

About Mueller Water Products

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.