Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $21.93 Million Stock Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,913 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,098 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $21,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,551,901 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $353,949,000 after purchasing an additional 75,777 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 32.9% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,204,801 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,290,000 after purchasing an additional 546,298 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,279,576 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $185,324,000 after purchasing an additional 572,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,453 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $184,184,000 after purchasing an additional 15,069 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,264,156 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $183,088,000 after buying an additional 75,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMS opened at $139.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.85. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.85 and a fifty-two week high of $179.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.26.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.12. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 26.63% and a net margin of 13.98%.The company had revenue of $676.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 14.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMS shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.00.

Advanced Drainage Systems 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.