GSA Capital Partners LLP Takes Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 48,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,057,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $245,070,000 after purchasing an additional 227,843 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.5% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,143,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,571,000 after acquiring an additional 15,346 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 399.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,055 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 24.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,999,869 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,838,000 after acquiring an additional 395,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,055,545 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,915,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MWA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen cut shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Mueller Water Products in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MWA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.31. The company had a trading volume of 874,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,987. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $22.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.08 and a 1 year high of $26.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,112,375.60. This trade represents a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.