Advanced Drainage Systems (WMS) Competitors

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, community ranking, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, LVS or WMS?

Las Vegas Sands has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Advanced Drainage Systems has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LVS or WMS a better dividend stock?

Las Vegas Sands pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Advanced Drainage Systems pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Las Vegas Sands pays out 55.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Advanced Drainage Systems pays out 12.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Las Vegas Sands has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Advanced Drainage Systems has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Las Vegas Sands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, LVS or WMS?

Las Vegas Sands has higher revenue and earnings than Advanced Drainage Systems. Advanced Drainage Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Las Vegas Sands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Las Vegas Sands	$11.20B	2.64	$1.45B	$1.80	23.29
Advanced Drainage Systems	$2.90B	3.09	$509.92M	$5.76	20.06

Does the media favor LVS or WMS?

In the previous week, Las Vegas Sands had 2 more articles in the media than Advanced Drainage Systems. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Las Vegas Sands and 5 mentions for Advanced Drainage Systems. Advanced Drainage Systems' average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Las Vegas Sands' score of 1.07 indicating that Advanced Drainage Systems is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Las Vegas Sands	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Advanced Drainage Systems	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LVS or WMS?

Las Vegas Sands received 937 more outperform votes than Advanced Drainage Systems when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.51% of users gave Las Vegas Sands an outperform vote while only 53.94% of users gave Advanced Drainage Systems an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Las Vegas Sands	Outperform Votes 1300 71.51%	Underperform Votes 518 28.49%
Advanced Drainage Systems	Outperform Votes 363 53.94%	Underperform Votes 310 46.06%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in LVS or WMS?

39.2% of Las Vegas Sands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Advanced Drainage Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Las Vegas Sands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Advanced Drainage Systems shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is LVS or WMS more profitable?

Advanced Drainage Systems has a net margin of 15.90% compared to Las Vegas Sands' net margin of 12.80%. Las Vegas Sands' return on equity of 45.82% beat Advanced Drainage Systems' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Las Vegas Sands	12.80%	45.82%	8.00%
Advanced Drainage Systems	15.90%	35.79%	13.73%

Do analysts prefer LVS or WMS?

Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus price target of $56.75, suggesting a potential upside of 35.38%. Advanced Drainage Systems has a consensus price target of $139.88, suggesting a potential upside of 21.03%. Given Las Vegas Sands' higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Las Vegas Sands is more favorable than Advanced Drainage Systems.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Las Vegas Sands	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Advanced Drainage Systems	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Summary

Las Vegas Sands beats Advanced Drainage Systems on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.