Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 76,680 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,673 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $8,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $399,452,000 after purchasing an additional 206,105 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 32,418 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,694,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 738,749 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $85,399,000 after acquiring an additional 129,252 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,186,878 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,578,000 after acquiring an additional 59,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMS. UBS Group raised 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. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.25.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $108.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.26. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.90 and a 52 week high of $184.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.61.

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

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is currently 10.70%.

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.