Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Buys Shares of 48,669 Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 48,669 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $1,509,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 3.7% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 757,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,193,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,642,000. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 43.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 256,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 77,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter worth $452,000. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MWA. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 1st. TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $19.36 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.13 and a 12 month high of $21.51. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.83.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.