AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 44,970 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK Plc cut its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 22.2%, selling 44,970 shares and retaining 157,715 shares valued at about $22.84M.
• Several large institutions (State Street, First Trust, American Century, Wellington, Dimensional) increased holdings, leaving institutional ownership at roughly 89.83%.
• Analysts show a Moderate Buy consensus with a $190.29 average target while the stock trades near $151.78; the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and reported strong margins and ROE.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,715 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 44,970 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned approximately 0.20% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $22,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,551,901 shares of the construction company's stock worth $353,949,000 after purchasing an additional 75,777 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 10.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,416,942 shares of the construction company's stock worth $335,230,000 after purchasing an additional 238,179 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 6.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,472,176 shares of the construction company's stock worth $204,191,000 after purchasing an additional 90,106 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 234.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,188,906 shares of the construction company's stock worth $164,901,000 after purchasing an additional 832,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 1.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,138,378 shares of the construction company's stock worth $157,889,000 after purchasing an additional 16,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Friday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $176.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $190.29.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $151.78 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $150.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.37. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.69 and a 1-year high of $179.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 4.12 and a quick ratio of 3.08.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.16. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 15.75% and a return on equity of 27.72%. 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 previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. Advanced Drainage Systems's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Advanced Drainage Systems's payout ratio is 11.98%.

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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