Gabelli Funds LLC Raises Position in Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 757,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.49% of Mueller Water Products worth $12,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MWA. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,143,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,571,000 after acquiring an additional 15,346 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth $213,000. Mirova purchased a new position in Mueller Water Products in the 1st quarter worth $633,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,231,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,070,000 after acquiring an additional 227,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL raised its stake in Mueller Water Products by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 17,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 5,837 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $127,101.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,896.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kenji Takeuchi sold 6,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $127,101.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,896.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Healy acquired 2,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.18 per share, for a total transaction of $50,827.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,827. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Mueller Water Products Stock Performance

MWA traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.70. 1,172,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,357,685. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Mueller Water Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.11 and a 1-year high of $20.82.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.15. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $353.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mueller Water Products, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.064 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W upgraded Mueller Water Products to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mueller Water Products from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Mueller Water Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mueller Water Products from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

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.