Aristides Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 67,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MWA. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 27,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,642,000. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 256,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 77,810 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 1st quarter worth approximately $452,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 194.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after acquiring an additional 682,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MWA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of 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 and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, 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 in the company, valued at $11,065,549.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total value of $175,472.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,699 shares in the company, valued at $691,898.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MWA opened at $21.70 on Tuesday. 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 $21.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.41.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

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. 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 1.18%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

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.