Advanced Drainage Systems (WMS) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in WMS or LVS?

89.8% of Advanced Drainage Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.2% of Las Vegas Sands shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Advanced Drainage Systems shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Las Vegas Sands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer WMS or LVS?

Advanced Drainage Systems presently has a consensus price target of $139.88, indicating a potential upside of 17.74%. Las Vegas Sands has a consensus price target of $55.58, indicating a potential upside of 15.82%. Given Advanced Drainage Systems' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Advanced Drainage Systems is more favorable than Las Vegas Sands.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Advanced Drainage Systems	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Las Vegas Sands	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.79

Is WMS or LVS a better dividend stock?

Advanced Drainage Systems pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Las Vegas Sands pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Advanced Drainage Systems pays out 12.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Las Vegas Sands pays out 55.6% 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. Advanced Drainage Systems has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Las Vegas Sands has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Las Vegas Sands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer WMS or LVS?

In the previous week, Las Vegas Sands had 9 more articles in the media than Advanced Drainage Systems. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Las Vegas Sands and 5 mentions for Advanced Drainage Systems. Advanced Drainage Systems' average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Las Vegas Sands' score of 0.98 indicating that Advanced Drainage Systems is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Advanced Drainage Systems	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Las Vegas Sands	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, WMS or LVS?

Advanced Drainage Systems has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Las Vegas Sands has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, WMS or LVS?

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
Advanced Drainage Systems	$2.90B	3.18	$450.17M	$5.76	20.63
Las Vegas Sands	$11.30B	3.00	$1.45B	$1.80	26.66

Is WMS or LVS more profitable?

Advanced Drainage Systems has a net margin of 15.50% compared to Las Vegas Sands' net margin of 11.64%. Las Vegas Sands' return on equity of 44.91% beat Advanced Drainage Systems' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Advanced Drainage Systems	15.50%	32.33%	12.88%
Las Vegas Sands	11.64%	44.91%	7.31%

Summary

Advanced Drainage Systems beats Las Vegas Sands on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.