AQR Capital Management LLC Makes New $209,000 Investment in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings 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 valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 32,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 2,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 279,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,010,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mueller Water Products Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MWA opened at $22.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.13 and a twelve month high of $23.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.00.

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

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.14%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total value of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $691,898.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,141,842. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MWA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.60.

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.