Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $186.00.

A number of research firms have commented on WMS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $176.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $187.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WMS stock opened at $171.10 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.12. Advanced Drainage Systems has a fifty-two week low of $93.92 and a fifty-two week high of $179.32.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $693.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $686.37 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 15.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Eversole sold 10,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.82, for a total transaction of $1,615,154.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,652,614.32. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,587,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 234.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,188,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $164,901,000 after buying an additional 832,929 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 80.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,279,576 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $185,324,000 after buying an additional 572,193 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 98.0% during the 3rd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 968,534 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $134,336,000 after acquiring an additional 479,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 875.8% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 458,910 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $66,464,000 after acquiring an additional 411,883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company Profile

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.