ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Makes New $18 Million Investment in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Key Points

• ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired 114,578 shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the second quarter, valued at approximately $18 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.83% of WMS.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with seven Buy ratings and two Holds, producing a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.38.
• Advanced Drainage Systems exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.49 in EPS and roughly $1 billion in revenue, up 20.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 114,578 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $18,005,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. owned approximately 0.15% of Advanced Drainage Systems at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position 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 valued at $353,949,000 after purchasing an additional 75,777 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 32.9% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,204,801 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $302,290,000 after buying an additional 546,298 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,288,672 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $176,734,000 after buying an additional 9,096 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,453 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $184,184,000 after buying an additional 15,069 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,264,156 shares of the construction company's stock worth $183,088,000 after buying an additional 75,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research raised Advanced Drainage Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $188.38.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:WMS opened at $150.82 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.03 and a 52 week high of $179.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.07 and a 200 day moving average of $147.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The construction company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $991.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.82%.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company Profile

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.

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