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

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $165.3333.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $181.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th.

Insider Activity at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other news, EVP Thomas J. Sr. Waun sold 1,000 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 14,970 shares in the company, valued at $2,245,500. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Eversole sold 10,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.82, for a total transaction of $1,615,154.58. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,652,614.32. This represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 97,772 shares of company stock worth $14,605,539. Corporate insiders own 1.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,028 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,321,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 29.7% during 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,651 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,669,000 after buying an additional 13,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE WMS opened at $151.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.63. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Advanced Drainage Systems has a 12 month low of $93.92 and a 12 month high of $160.85.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $850.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $802.49 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.85% and a net margin of 15.35%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

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

About Advanced Drainage Systems

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.