Advanced Drainage Systems' (WMS) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Key Points

• Stephens reaffirmed its “overweight” rating on Advanced Drainage Systems and set a $175 price target, implying 38.81% upside. Analysts overall have a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target of $188.70.
• Advanced Drainage Systems reported quarterly EPS of $2.49, exceeding estimates of $2.10, while revenue reached $1 billion and increased 20.6% year over year.
• The stock opened at $126.07, near its 52-week low of $124.75, while institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 89.83% of outstanding shares.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Stephens in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $175.00 target price on the construction company's stock. Stephens' price objective suggests a potential upside of 38.81% from the company's current price.

WMS has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $175.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $188.70.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $126.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. Advanced Drainage Systems has a fifty-two week low of $124.75 and a fifty-two week high of $179.32.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Drainage Systems

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 78.1% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 244 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 150.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 301 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company's stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company Profile

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc NYSE: WMS designs and manufactures water management products for the construction, infrastructure, agriculture and residential markets. Founded in 1966 and headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, the company is known for its thermoplastic corrugated pipe and related systems used to collect, convey, store and manage stormwater and wastewater.

Its product portfolio includes stormwater detention and infiltration systems, sanitary and septic sewer products, agricultural drainage systems, erosion and sediment control products, and water-quality solutions.

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