Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 234 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,820 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 32,367 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 127,328 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,859 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP raised its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 6,060 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $373,000. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other Advanced Drainage Systems news, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,532,087. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Michael G. Huebert sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,199,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ross M. Jones sold 762,895 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 70,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,532,087. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $162.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.98 and a 1 year high of $176.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.73. The stock has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.50.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The construction company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.44. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 8.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMS shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $138.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.13.

Advanced Drainage Systems 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.