The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 52,138 Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. $WMS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 52,138 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,184,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position 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 period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 16,007 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,318,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 78.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 244 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.70.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $137.11 on Monday. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.03 and a 12-month high of $179.32. The company has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.29.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The construction company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $991.39 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 14.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.82%.

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.