Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases 27,751 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 108.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,751 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth $1,573,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,644,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,004,000 after buying an additional 662,637 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 199,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,494,000 after buying an additional 22,045 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 64,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 20,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 109.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 180,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,051,000 after acquiring an additional 94,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MWA stock opened at $25.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.81 and a 1 year high of $28.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.95.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 57,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,488,684.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Suzanne G. Smith sold 26,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $653,188.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,356.22. This represents a 73.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MWA. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

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.