Milford Funds Ltd. Makes New $15.64 Million Investment in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 108,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,642,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $156,587,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 234.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,188,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $164,901,000 after purchasing an additional 832,929 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP increased its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 98.0% during the third quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 968,534 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $134,336,000 after purchasing an additional 479,413 shares during the period. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the third quarter worth about $45,591,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 586.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 285,810 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,642,000 after buying an additional 244,202 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $134.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.63 and a twelve month high of $179.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.11. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.12. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 26.63% and a net margin of 13.98%.The company had revenue of $676.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMS shares. Stephens raised Advanced Drainage Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.75.

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.