US Bancorp DE Trims Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,550 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Mueller Water Products news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 121,616 shares of company stock valued at $2,390,796 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MWA shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock opened at $25.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.81. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.59 and a 12 month high of $25.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 35.62%.

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.