American Century Companies Inc. Raises Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,402,447 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,415 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $162,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 781 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,005 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,390 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,812 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 884 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of WMS stock opened at $108.33 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.90 and a 12 month high of $184.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.32.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The construction company reported $1.09 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 expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.70%.

Advanced Drainage Systems Profile

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.