Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $159.13.

Several research analysts have commented on WMS shares. Stephens raised their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $138.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut Advanced Drainage Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday.

Insider Transactions at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $1,635,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,199,344. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems 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 sale, the director now directly owns 70,749 shares in the company, valued at $11,532,087. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,199,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,878,726 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $783,005,000 after purchasing an additional 65,038 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 76.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,672,684 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $561,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,890,821 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 55.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,054,386 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,000,000 after purchasing an additional 735,476 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 15.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,278 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $178,745,000 after purchasing an additional 204,267 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 13.3% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,445,326 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $164,521,000 after purchasing an additional 169,517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Down 0.1 %

WMS stock opened at $156.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 3.03. The company has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50. Advanced Drainage Systems has a fifty-two week low of $80.41 and a fifty-two week high of $176.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.91 and a 200-day moving average of $138.60.

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 company had revenue of $662.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.90%.

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.