Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 42,451 Shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 217,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,451 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Mueller Water Products were worth $4,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crestline Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter worth about $345,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in Mueller Water Products by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 802,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,065,000 after purchasing an additional 232,195 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 18,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mueller Water Products by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian Slobodow sold 11,132 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $182,408.48. The trade was a 60.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,464.53. This trade represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,600 shares of company stock worth $914,076. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mueller Water Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.25.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

Shares of MWA stock opened at $25.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.62 and a 200 day moving average of $24.79. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.09 and a 52 week high of $28.58. 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 (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $364.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.30 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Mueller Water Products’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

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.