Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

WMS has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens upgraded Advanced Drainage Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.75.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

NYSE WMS opened at $147.28 on Wednesday. Advanced Drainage Systems has a twelve month low of $109.63 and a twelve month high of $179.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.80.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $676.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMS. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 87.0% in the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 111,124 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,238,000 after purchasing an additional 51,707 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the first quarter valued at $7,459,000. Dayah Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the first quarter valued at about $1,755,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the first quarter valued at about $566,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,288,672 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $176,734,000 after buying an additional 9,096 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.