Nordea Investment Management AB Increases Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,741 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,497 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.10% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $10,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 177.4% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 430 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $203,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 77.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,371 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 11,036.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,234 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 5,187 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $336,000. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WMS. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $176.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $181.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.22.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WMS opened at $159.42 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.92 and a 12-month high of $160.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $850.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $802.49 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.85% and a net margin of 15.35%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 12.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tim A. Makowski sold 4,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.21, for a total transaction of $731,278.21. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,467 shares in the company, valued at $368,101.07. This represents a 66.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Barbour sold 80,030 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.95, for a total transaction of $11,920,468.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,385,039.65. This trade represents a 65.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,772 shares of company stock worth $14,605,539. Corporate insiders own 1.63% of the company’s stock.

About Advanced Drainage Systems

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc (NYSE: WMS) is a leading manufacturer and supplier of water management solutions in North America. Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, the company specializes in the design, production and distribution of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) drainage pipe and related products. Its core business addresses stormwater management, on-site septic systems and erosion control for residential, commercial and infrastructure projects.

The company’s product portfolio includes corrugated plastic pipe, tubing, fittings, geocells, geogrids and stormwater structures such as inlets, manholes and detention/retention systems.