Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 27,447 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 16,007 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 377 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 78.1% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 244 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens raised Advanced Drainage Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research cut shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.00.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $147.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.09 and its 200 day moving average is $148.92. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $110.79 and a one year high of $179.32.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $676.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.92 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 26.63% and a net margin of 13.98%.Advanced Drainage Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is presently 14.71%.

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.