Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $155.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 34.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WMS. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Advanced Drainage Systems from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $194.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $174.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advanced Drainage Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.38.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMS opened at $115.00 on Wednesday. Advanced Drainage Systems has a one year low of $113.10 and a one year high of $184.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.19.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The construction company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.41 million. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 40.31%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Drainage Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMS. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $399,452,000 after acquiring an additional 206,105 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 4.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 64,618 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,384,276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $217,553,000 after purchasing an additional 75,455 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 0.6% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,382,735 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $221,777,000 after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 5.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,186,878 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $186,578,000 after purchasing an additional 59,158 shares during the last quarter. 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.