Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 121 Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS)

Ballentine Partners LLC cut its stake in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) by 8.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,345 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,265,169 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,251,353,000 after acquiring an additional 395,099 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,519,118 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $261,609,000 after acquiring an additional 219,629 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,091 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $229,372,000 after acquiring an additional 64,618 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,384,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $217,553,000 after acquiring an additional 75,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,382,735 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $221,777,000 after acquiring an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMS shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $192.00 target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. 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 decreased their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.14.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Advanced Drainage Systems stock opened at $151.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.12. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.16 and a 52 week high of $184.27.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.08. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 43.60%. The company had revenue of $815.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $828.00 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Advanced Drainage Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.13%.

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.