Archon Partners LLC Buys 19,000 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Archon Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 47.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the quarter. Archon Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $8,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 406.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,302 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after buying an additional 21,906 shares in the last quarter. Pier Capital LLC boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 69,891.7% in the 4th quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 50,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,299,000 after purchasing an additional 50,322 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 166,469 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $24,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,557 shares during the last quarter. Elevatus Welath Management purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,600,000. Finally, Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the fourth quarter worth $3,283,000. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMS. UBS Group dropped their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.00.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

NYSE:WMS opened at $142.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.26. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.85 and a 1 year high of $179.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.72.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $676.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.92 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 26.63%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is presently 14.71%.

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.