Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Raises Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 57.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 11,711 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MWA. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 468.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 5,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MWA opened at $25.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $14.81 and a one year high of $28.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83.

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

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Water Products news, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.