Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Buys 4,214 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,214 shares during the period. Aristeia Capital L.L.C.’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 2,962.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,015,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,552 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Mueller Water Products by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,014,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,366 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Mueller Water Products during the fourth quarter worth about $20,996,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 514.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 970,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,826,000 after purchasing an additional 812,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $197,456,000 after purchasing an additional 791,569 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MWA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,408.48. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lydia W. Thomas sold 17,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 126,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,464.53. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

NYSE:MWA opened at $27.23 on Friday. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.14 and a 52-week high of $28.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.67 and a 200 day moving average of $24.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

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.