Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) Shares Sold by Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,325 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,960 shares during the quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,878,726 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $783,005,000 after acquiring an additional 65,038 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,445,326 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $164,521,000 after acquiring an additional 169,517 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,385,780 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $157,743,000 after acquiring an additional 104,272 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,120,769 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $127,552,000 after acquiring an additional 8,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,211 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,794,000 after acquiring an additional 20,947 shares during the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMS traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $161.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 324,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,373. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.59 and a 200 day moving average of $140.14. The company has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.41 and a 1 year high of $176.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The construction company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.44. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 49.79% and a net margin of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $662.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMS. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Advanced Drainage Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stephens increased their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $138.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.13.

Insider Transactions at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $1,635,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,199,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $1,635,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,199,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $124,351,885.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,749 shares in the company, valued at $11,532,087. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Advanced Drainage Systems Profile

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products, and drainage solutions for use in the construction and agriculture marketplaces in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments.