Stephens Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS)

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Stephens in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $135.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $170.00. Stephens’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.60% from the company’s current price.

WMS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Advanced Drainage Systems from $174.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $194.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $192.00 to $184.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.29.

Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance

NYSE:WMS opened at $130.31 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $150.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.53. Advanced Drainage Systems has a one year low of $116.98 and a one year high of $184.27.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.23). Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Drainage Systems

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 10.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,696 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems by 63.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 66,714 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,474,000 after buying an additional 25,786 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 11.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,475 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems during the first quarter worth about $346,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Drainage Systems Company 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.