Bank of America Corp DE Buys New Stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated a 340,259-share position in Advanced Drainage Systems worth approximately $53.4 million, representing about 0.45% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 89.83% of WMS.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $188.70, despite WMS trading near $126.07.
• Advanced Drainage Systems beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.49 in EPS versus $2.10 estimated and 20.6% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, yielding about 0.6% annually.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 340,259 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $53,407,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.45% of Advanced Drainage Systems at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,184,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,040,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the second quarter worth approximately $56,805,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,372,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,499,000. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMS. Stephens raised shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $190.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. National Bank Financial set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $188.70.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE WMS opened at $126.07 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average is $140.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.75 and a 1-year high of $179.32.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The construction company reported $2.49 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 analyst estimates of $991.39 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 14.00%.Advanced Drainage Systems's quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Advanced Drainage Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.82%.

Advanced Drainage Systems 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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