Alps Advisors Inc. Invests $447,000 in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,220 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 16,240 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,688 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 21.5% during the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.6% during the third quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 126,612 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,517,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 103.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 938 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 31,382 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,353,000 after acquiring an additional 10,180 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on Advanced Drainage Systems and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $187.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.00.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of WMS stock opened at $170.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.92 and a twelve month high of $179.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.85.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $693.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.37 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 15.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Drainage Systems

In related news, Director Robert M. Eversole sold 10,569 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.82, for a total value of $1,615,154.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,652,614.32. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.63% of the company’s stock.

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.