Perpetual Ltd Lowers Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Perpetual Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,546 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,636 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $13,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 27.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,031,682 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $112,090,000 after acquiring an additional 224,015 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 129.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 40,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,374,000 after purchasing an additional 22,737 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the first quarter worth about $243,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 26.4% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 91,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,884,000 after buying an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 9.2% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 738,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,184,000 after buying an additional 62,405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $176.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $158.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas J. Sr. Waun sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,500. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Eversole sold 10,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.82, for a total transaction of $1,615,154.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,652,614.32. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 97,772 shares of company stock valued at $14,605,539 in the last three months. 1.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $148.47 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.92 and a 1-year high of $155.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $145.36 and its 200 day moving average is $134.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.27. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.85% and a net margin of 15.35%.The firm had revenue of $850.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $802.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.29%.

Advanced Drainage Systems 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.