Marshall Wace LLP Invests $8.09 Million in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 451,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,087,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MWA. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the second quarter valued at $72,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 345,700.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 6,914 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” 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 research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MWA opened at $21.27 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.13 and a 52 week high of $21.51.

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

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,065,549.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,065,549.86. 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 quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.