Versor Investments LP Cuts Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Versor Investments LP cut its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,400 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,456 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $25.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.95 and its 200-day moving average is $22.96. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.81 and a 12-month high of $28.25. 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 has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total transaction of $1,488,684.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This trade represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.