Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 41,539 Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 41,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $743,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA opened at $20.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.10. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.13 and a twelve month high of $21.51.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,375.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

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.