Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $164.25.

WMS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $192.00 to $184.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group upgraded Advanced Drainage Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $174.00 to $161.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $149.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $399,452,000 after acquiring an additional 206,105 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 96,764 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $11,186,000 after acquiring an additional 32,418 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,694,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,540,000. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,384,276 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $217,553,000 after acquiring an additional 75,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company's stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

NYSE:WMS traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $126.84. 494,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 625,674. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.52. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $120.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.21. Advanced Drainage Systems has a fifty-two week low of $110.75 and a fifty-two week high of $184.27.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The construction company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.25). Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 15.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Advanced Drainage Systems's payout ratio is 10.70%.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company Profile

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products in North America and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments. It offers single, double, and triple wall corrugated polypropylene and polyethylene pipes; plastic leachfield chambers and systems; EZflow synthetic aggregate bundles; wastewater purification through mechanical aeration wastewater for residential and commercial systems; septic tanks and accessories; combined treatment and dispersal systems, including advanced enviro-septic and advanced treatment leachfield systems; and allied products, including storm retention/detention and septic chambers, polyvinyl chloride drainage structures, fittings, and water quality filters and separators.