AA Financial Advisors LLC Invests $1.90 Million in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,440 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,900,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 738,749 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $85,399,000 after purchasing an additional 129,252 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $5,055,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,005 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,417 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMS shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of 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. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $170.00) on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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. Barclays reduced their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.88.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $124.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $123.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.51. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.75 and a 52-week high of $184.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.19.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.23). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.19%.

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.