Point72 Asset Management L.P. Buys Shares of 31,385 Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 31,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $681,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 162,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,532,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Mueller Water Products by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MWA. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 10,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $263,300.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 136,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,424.56. This represents a 57.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,433 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,144 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MWA traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $24.52. 959,981 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,588. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.49 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.99.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.067 dividend. This is a positive change from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.62%.

About Mueller Water Products

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.