Driehaus Capital Management LLC Takes $13.03 Million Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 727,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,031,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Mueller Water Products at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 44.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 32,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 279,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,065,549.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Christine Ortiz sold 8,800 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.94, for a total transaction of $175,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,898.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 135,253 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $2,751,046.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,065,549.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

NYSE MWA opened at $21.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.70 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.37. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.13 and a 52-week high of $21.51.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.064 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.06%.

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.