Oppenheimer Increases Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) Price Target to $180.00

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) had its price target boosted by Oppenheimer from $172.00 to $180.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $138.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $159.13.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

WMS opened at $156.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.91 and a 200 day moving average of $138.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 3.03. Advanced Drainage Systems has a fifty-two week low of $80.41 and a fifty-two week high of $176.31.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The construction company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $662.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.69 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 49.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 8.90%.

Insider Transactions at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,199,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,199,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $124,351,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMS. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 13.3% during the third 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,878,726 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $783,005,000 after acquiring an additional 65,038 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,990 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 6,343 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 113.9% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 3,896 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 42,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,945,000 after acquiring an additional 6,467 shares during the period. 89.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company 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.