Gotham Asset Management LLC Has $2.82 Million Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA - Free Report) by 43.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,891 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Mueller Water Products worth $2,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MWA. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth $100,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company's stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $25.57. The company had a trading volume of 761,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,574,212. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $25.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a one year low of $17.09 and a one year high of $28.58. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $364.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.067 dividend. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products's dividend payout ratio is 28.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Mueller Water Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mueller Water Products

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $275,294.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 126,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,600 shares of company stock worth $914,076. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.