Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) Stock Price

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $160.00 to $149.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the construction company's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WMS. UBS Group upgraded Advanced Drainage Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $192.00 to $184.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $174.00 to $161.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $164.25.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

WMS traded up $2.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.13. 867,153 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 661,676. 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 12-month low of $110.75 and a 12-month high of $184.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.67. The company has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Advanced Drainage Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,332,268 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $847,610,000 after purchasing an additional 52,799 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $399,452,000 after purchasing an additional 206,105 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,530,000 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $291,723,000 after purchasing an additional 650,052 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,447 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $162,123,000 after purchasing an additional 16,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,384,276 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $217,553,000 after purchasing an additional 75,455 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company's stock.

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.