Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 243,190 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,171,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.32% of Advanced Drainage Systems at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 352.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 226 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.8% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,049 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 14.0% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,784 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems in the second quarter worth $403,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.2% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 101,512 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $206.00 price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.70.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of WMS stock opened at $137.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.12. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $128.03 and a one year high of $179.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $145.99 and its 200 day moving average is $146.47.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The construction company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $991.39 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 28.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is presently 13.82%.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company Profile

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc (NYSE: WMS) is a leading manufacturer and supplier of water management solutions in North America. Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, the company specializes in the design, production and distribution of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) drainage pipe and related products. Its core business addresses stormwater management, on-site septic systems and erosion control for residential, commercial and infrastructure projects.

The company’s product portfolio includes corrugated plastic pipe, tubing, fittings, geocells, geogrids and stormwater structures such as inlets, manholes and detention/retention systems.