Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $4.49 Million Stock Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,045 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $4,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 4,456 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at $146,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MWA shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $26.78 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.81 and a 200-day moving average of $22.77. The company has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $14.81 and a one year high of $28.25.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $653,188.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This trade represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,424.56. The trade was a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 87,642 shares of company stock worth $2,230,844. Insiders own 1.10% 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.