Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Position in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its stake in Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,247 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 73.1% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mueller Water Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.25.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total value of $181,228.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Healy purchased 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.74 per share, for a total transaction of $27,461.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 15,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $389,160.20. The trade was a 7.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $25.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.79. Mueller Water Products has a one year low of $18.55 and a one year high of $28.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The business had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

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.