Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,910 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,146 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.21% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $18,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMS. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $399,452,000 after purchasing an additional 206,105 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 96,764 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,186,000 after buying an additional 32,418 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,694,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,540,000. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,384,276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $217,553,000 after acquiring an additional 75,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $192.00 to $184.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $172.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.88.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE WMS opened at $125.04 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $123.51 and its 200 day moving average is $143.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.75 and a 1 year high of $184.27.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.23). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $782.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. Advanced Drainage Systems’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 10.19%.

About Advanced Drainage Systems

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products in North America and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments. It offers single, double, and triple wall corrugated polypropylene and polyethylene pipes; plastic leachfield chambers and systems; EZflow synthetic aggregate bundles; wastewater purification through mechanical aeration wastewater for residential and commercial systems; septic tanks and accessories; combined treatment and dispersal systems, including advanced enviro-septic and advanced treatment leachfield systems; and allied products, including storm retention/detention and septic chambers, polyvinyl chloride drainage structures, fittings, and water quality filters and separators.