Vision Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Vision Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,988 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,007 shares during the quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $3,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMS. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 76.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 266 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 15.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,914 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 593,562 shares of the construction company's stock worth $68,616,000 after buying an additional 31,510 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the construction company's stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 48.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,566 shares of the construction company's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $146.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $155.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $143.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $139.88.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

WMS stock traded down $1.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $120.37. 460,011 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 631,781. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.92 and a 52 week high of $179.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 3.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.24.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The construction company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.06). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The firm had revenue of $615.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $653.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Advanced Drainage Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

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.