Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stock Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 490,205 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 60,489 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $70,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 462,659 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $67,007,000 after purchasing an additional 15,535 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,581 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. One Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 21,502 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,114,000 after acquiring an additional 6,494 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $156,587,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $83,000. 89.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $198.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.29.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

NYSE WMS opened at $135.53 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.63 and a 52-week high of $179.32.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $676.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.92 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 26.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 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.