Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) Price Target Raised to $164.00 at Barclays

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS – Get Rating) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $135.00 to $164.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WMS. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $142.00 to $120.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 28th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $158.00 to $137.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 20th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $158.00 to $124.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $144.50.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $139.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Advanced Drainage Systems has a 12 month low of $80.81 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $100.96 and a 200-day moving average of $108.35. The company has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.37 and a beta of 1.51.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 4th. The construction company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $1.22. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The firm had revenue of $914.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 1st will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 31st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is presently 15.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Darin S. Harvey sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.55, for a total value of $2,251,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $517,730. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Kevin C. Talley sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.54, for a total transaction of $2,399,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 62,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,615,743.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Darin S. Harvey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.55, for a total transaction of $2,251,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,730. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 355,426 shares of company stock valued at $38,979,477. 9.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 11.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,287,218 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $628,174,000 after acquiring an additional 526,175 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,181,725 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,211,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,730,806 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $235,614,000 after acquiring an additional 553,911 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 20.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,701,136 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,072,000 after acquiring an additional 285,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,144,133 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $103,051,000 after acquiring an additional 23,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.10% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company Profile

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