American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 16,415 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,402,447 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,415 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.81% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $162,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $399,452,000 after acquiring an additional 206,105 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 96,764 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,186,000 after acquiring an additional 32,418 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $2,694,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $8,540,000. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,384,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $217,553,000 after acquiring an additional 75,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $108.33 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.90 and a fifty-two week high of $184.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 3.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.32.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The construction company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.25). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 35.79%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMS. Barclays cut their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.25.

Advanced Drainage Systems Profile

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products in North America and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments. It offers single, double, and triple wall corrugated polypropylene and polyethylene pipes; plastic leachfield chambers and systems; EZflow synthetic aggregate bundles; wastewater purification through mechanical aeration wastewater for residential and commercial systems; septic tanks and accessories; combined treatment and dispersal systems, including advanced enviro-septic and advanced treatment leachfield systems; and allied products, including storm retention/detention and septic chambers, polyvinyl chloride drainage structures, fittings, and water quality filters and separators.