Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Has $4.86 Million Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS - Free Report) by 553.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,759 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,908 shares during the quarter. Advanced Drainage Systems makes up 3.2% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Advanced Drainage Systems worth $4,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMS. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 63,309 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,319,000 after buying an additional 25,158 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 15,408 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,781,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,416 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,938,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,390 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 150,645 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $17,415,000 after buying an additional 54,295 shares during the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $146.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Advanced Drainage Systems from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $143.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.88.

Advanced Drainage Systems Trading Up 1.0%

WMS stock traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,822,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,913. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.25. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.92 and a twelve month high of $179.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

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

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Advanced Drainage Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Advanced Drainage Systems's 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.