Steele Capital Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,054 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems in the third quarter worth $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WMS shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $138.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.13.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $162.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 455,231. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.25 and a 52 week high of $176.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.50.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The construction company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.44. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 49.79% and a net margin of 17.65%. The business had revenue of $662.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Drainage Systems

In related news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $1,635,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,199,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $1,635,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,199,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $124,351,885.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 70,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,532,087. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Advanced Drainage Systems

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products, and drainage solutions for use in the construction and agriculture marketplaces in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments.