Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Has $11.90 Million Stock Holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 281.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 663,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 489,902 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $11,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MWA shares. 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. TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 $10,630,326.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $21.07 on Thursday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.13 and a 52-week high of $21.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.38 and a 200-day moving average of $18.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.70.

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

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.064 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is 39.06%.

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.