18,354 Shares in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) Purchased by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $1,509,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $14,642,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $1,018,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products during the third quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 31.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,440,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,943,000 after buying an additional 582,795 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Mueller Water Products from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Baird R W raised shares of Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $17.51 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.85. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.11 and a 52 week high of $19.43. 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 results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.62 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. Mueller Water Products’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.18 per share, with a total value of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 51,708 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $660,648.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.