Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires Shares of 77,328 Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 77,328 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,740,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,552 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $90,318,000 after buying an additional 1,780,366 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter worth about $20,996,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 514.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,826,000 after acquiring an additional 812,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 10.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,618,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $197,456,000 after acquiring an additional 791,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MWA has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $25.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 619,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,095. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.27 and a 12 month high of $28.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.23.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insider Activity

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

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.