Inspire Investing LLC Grows Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC dramatically increased its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, boosting holdings by 18,169.7% in the first quarter to 12,058 shares worth about $1.65 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $185.75, despite a few target cuts and one downgrade.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.07 and revenue of $676.76 million, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share.

Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) by 18,169.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,058 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $1,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,170 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 16,007 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the construction company's stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 377 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,174 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research cut Advanced Drainage Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $198.00 to $181.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.75.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 1.7%

WMS opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.63 and a twelve month high of $179.32. The company's 50-day moving average price is $141.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.80. The stock has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.12. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 26.63%. The company had revenue of $676.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Advanced Drainage Systems's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 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 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Advanced Drainage Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Advanced Drainage Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.71%.

Advanced Drainage Systems 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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