Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $2.82 Million Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC decreased its stake by 39.3% in Advanced Drainage Systems in Q4, holding 19,440 shares worth about $2.82 million amid overall institutional ownership of roughly 89.8%.
• Analyst sentiment is positive with seven Buy and one Hold ratings and an average price target of $190.29, indicating a consensus "Moderate Buy."
• Advanced Drainage beat Q4 expectations with EPS $1.27 vs. $1.11 and revenue of $693.35M; the stock trades near $152.63 (market cap ~$11.9B) and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.18 (≈0.5% yield).

Advisors Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,440 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 12,564 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $2,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMS. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the construction company's stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.7% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 3,234 shares of the construction company's stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 16.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 702 shares of the construction company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.6% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,599 shares of the construction company's stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,241 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMS shares. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $198.00 to $181.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $215.00 price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $190.29.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.4%

WMS stock opened at $152.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.37. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.69 and a twelve month high of $179.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.10. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.16. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 15.75%.The company had revenue of $693.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $686.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The business's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Advanced Drainage Systems's payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

About Advanced Drainage Systems

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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