Oxbow Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 23,425 Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Oxbow Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 23,425 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,677,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the second quarter valued at $1,172,482,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,551,901 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $353,949,000 after acquiring an additional 75,777 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,204,801 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $302,290,000 after acquiring an additional 546,298 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,288,672 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $176,734,000 after acquiring an additional 9,096 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,453 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $184,184,000 after acquiring an additional 15,069 shares during the period. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:WMS opened at $144.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.45. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.03 and a 12-month high of $179.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The construction company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.39. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 14.00%.The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $991.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. Advanced Drainage Systems’s revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is currently 13.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WMS. Robert W. Baird set a $206.00 target price on Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens raised shares of 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 note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $188.38.

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.