Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Decreases Stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,365 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,868 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $6,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,332,268 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $847,610,000 after purchasing an additional 52,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $399,452,000 after buying an additional 206,105 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,530,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $291,723,000 after buying an additional 650,052 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $162,123,000 after buying an additional 16,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,186,878 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,578,000 after acquiring an additional 59,158 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMS. StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Drainage Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised Advanced Drainage Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.25.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.9 %

Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $112.27 on Thursday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.90 and a twelve month high of $184.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $117.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.69.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The construction company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.25). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 35.79%. On average, research analysts predict that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 10.70%.

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.