PDT Partners LLC Makes New $1.81 Million Investment in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

PDT Partners LLC 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 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 83,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,809,000. PDT Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Mueller Water Products at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MWA. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $53,093,000 after buying an additional 2,369,055 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $14,040,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $13,031,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 194.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,528,000 after buying an additional 682,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth $9,154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.68% of the company's stock.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $263,300.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,328,282. This represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd P. Helms sold 3,556 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $88,971.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,683 shares in the company, valued at $967,848.66. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MWA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Mueller Water Products Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MWA traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.04. 465,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,778. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $26.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business had revenue of $348.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Mueller Water Products's payout ratio is 36.99%.

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.