Short Interest in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) Rises By 19.6%

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,620,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the February 13th total of 2,190,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 662,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Advanced Drainage Systems Stock Performance

Advanced Drainage Systems stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $109.73. The company had a trading volume of 472,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,976. The firm has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Advanced Drainage Systems has a one year low of $101.90 and a one year high of $184.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $118.34 and a 200 day moving average of $132.40.

Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The construction company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.25). Advanced Drainage Systems had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 15.90%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Drainage Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Advanced Drainage Systems’s payout ratio is presently 10.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,541,688 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $399,452,000 after acquiring an additional 206,105 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 96,764 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,186,000 after acquiring an additional 32,418 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,694,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,540,000. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.