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

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $159.13.

Several analysts have recently commented on WMS shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Stephens boosted 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 2.4 %

WMS opened at $160.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Advanced Drainage Systems has a 1-year low of $80.41 and a 1-year high of $176.31. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.85.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released 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. The business had revenue of $662.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.69 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 49.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 8.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Advanced Drainage Systems news, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $124,351,885.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,532,087. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $124,351,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,532,087. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMS. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.5% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,702 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 184.5% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 4,505 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 6.2% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,235 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the third quarter worth $146,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 7.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,619,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

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.