Neo Ivy Capital Management Takes $342,000 Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,204 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MWA. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 361.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 266,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,775,000 after buying an additional 208,502 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 697,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,696,000 after buying an additional 50,119 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 31,931 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 199,716 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,494,000 after purchasing an additional 22,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,573,000. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Mueller Water Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of Mueller Water Products stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.53. 164,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,396. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $28.58. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $25.21 and a 200-day moving average of $24.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $457,552.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 126,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,600 shares of company stock worth $914,076 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mueller Water Products Company 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.