13,231 Shares in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Acquired by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 1,340.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 4,422 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,708 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MWA shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Baird R W raised Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Five research 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, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA traded up $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.39. 1,675,864 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,227,192. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.11 and a 12-month high of $20.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. The company had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Mueller Water Products’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is presently 40.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $976,247.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Mueller Water Products news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $976,247.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,648.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Healy bought 2,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.