Impax Asset Management Group plc Buys 374,414 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,904,414 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 374,414 shares during the quarter. Advanced Drainage Systems makes up 1.9% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 3.74% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $314,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 593,562 shares of the construction company's stock worth $68,616,000 after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 23.0% during 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 during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 48.3% during 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 during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,265 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $535,000. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMS. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $143.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut 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 research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.88.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of WMS stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,821. The company has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.11 and a 200-day moving average of $114.43. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.92 and a 52 week high of $179.57.

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

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Advanced Drainage Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.