Insider Selling: Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Sells $181,228.32 in Stock

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Director Brian Slobodow sold 7,376 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $181,228.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Brian Slobodow also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 4th, Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $24.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.64. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MWA shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 16.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,795,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $503,201,000 after buying an additional 2,840,895 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,854,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,318,000 after buying an additional 1,780,366 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 95.4% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,212,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

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.