American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Position in Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in shares of Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,895,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,233 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.67% of Mueller Industries worth $150,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLI. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Industries during the third quarter valued at $243,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 107,875.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Industries during the third quarter valued at $1,922,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 5.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 32.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 63,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,687,000 after buying an additional 15,407 shares during the last quarter. 94.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Mueller Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mueller Industries news, Director Scott Jay Goldman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.81, for a total value of $798,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,477,181.38. This represents a 15.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Industries Price Performance

NYSE MLI opened at $77.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.18 and a 200 day moving average of $79.31. Mueller Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.85 and a 1 year high of $96.81.

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Mueller Industries had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 22.97%.

Mueller Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from Mueller Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Mueller Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Mueller Industries Company Profile

Mueller Industries, Inc manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples.