Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Reduces Stock Holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lowered its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,016 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,891 shares during the quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $2,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 406.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,302 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 21,906 shares in the last quarter. Pier Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 69,891.7% in the 4th quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 50,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,299,000 after acquiring an additional 50,322 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 166,469 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,110,000 after acquiring an additional 30,557 shares in the last quarter. Elevatus Welath Management purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,600,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 98.0% in the 3rd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 968,534 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $134,336,000 after purchasing an additional 479,413 shares during the period. 89.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMS shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $198.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.75.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of WMS stock opened at $154.77 on Friday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $109.63 and a one year high of $179.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $141.73 and its 200 day moving average is $148.68. The company has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $676.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.92 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 26.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Advanced Drainage Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is 14.71%.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company 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.