Entropy Technologies LP Sells 5,595 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Entropy Technologies LP cut its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 36.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,595 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 1,405 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA stock opened at $24.31 on Monday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.08 and a 52-week high of $26.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.80 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.