Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 812,127 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 514.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 970,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 812,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.62% of Mueller Water Products worth $21,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Horizon Investment Services LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $791,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 442,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,965,000 after acquiring an additional 52,694 shares in the last quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV lifted its position in Mueller Water Products by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV now owns 1,324,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $20,996,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,045,628 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $23,527,000 after purchasing an additional 120,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE:MWA traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,172,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,318. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $25.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.10. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.81 and a 12-month high of $28.58.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Insider Activity at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.