SG Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 328,703 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,591,000. Advanced Drainage Systems makes up 4.1% of SG Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. SG Capital Management LLC owned 0.42% of Advanced Drainage Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 3,234 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 16.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 702 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.6% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 17,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.2% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,132 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMS shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $176.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $187.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.00.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of WMS stock opened at $170.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.12. The firm has a market cap of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.92 and a 52 week high of $179.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.01.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $693.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.37 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 15.75% and a return on equity of 27.72%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is presently 11.98%.

Insider Activity at Advanced Drainage Systems

In other news, Director Robert M. Eversole sold 10,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 17.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Advanced Drainage Systems

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.