Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 359,111 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,297 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $41,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millburn Ridgefield Corp boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 642.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 490 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 781 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Advanced Drainage Systems during the fourth quarter worth $94,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 884 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,005 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMS shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $160.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Advanced Drainage Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Advanced Drainage Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.25.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

WMS stock opened at $108.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.33. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.90 and a 52-week high of $184.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The construction company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.25). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 35.79%. Equities research analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.70%.

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.