Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 14,291 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 484,790 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,291 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.62% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $67,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,960 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the third quarter valued at about $24,314,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 345.7% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 42,898 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,950,000 after buying an additional 33,274 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems in the third quarter worth about $1,321,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 29.7% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 19,982 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,772,000 after buying an additional 4,574 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $187.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $176.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.00.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $137.24 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.92 and a twelve month high of $179.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.81 and a 200 day moving average of $149.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

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.