Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 77,439 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,395,071 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 77,439 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 3.08% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $332,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMS. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 134.8% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,275 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 3,028 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,321,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 19,982 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,772,000 after purchasing an additional 4,574 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,651 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,669,000 after purchasing an additional 13,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp acquired a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMS has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $181.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.22.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of WMS stock opened at $153.11 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.92 and a 52-week high of $160.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.81.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced 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. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.85% and a net margin of 15.35%.The company had revenue of $850.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $802.49 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Advanced Drainage Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Advanced Drainage Systems news, EVP Thomas J. Sr. Waun sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,245,500. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider D. Scott Barbour sold 80,030 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.95, for a total value of $11,920,468.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,867 shares in the company, valued at $6,385,039.65. This trade represents a 65.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,772 shares of company stock valued at $14,605,539. 1.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.