Perpetual Ltd Sells 11,559 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 308,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,559 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $6,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 9,061 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 924,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,066,000 after acquiring an additional 12,391 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 369.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 77,467 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MWA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,328,282. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $967,848.66. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 98,433 shares of company stock worth $2,494,144. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA stock opened at $23.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.33. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $13.49 and a one year high of $26.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. Mueller Water Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.