Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Purchased by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 517,332 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $105,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AYI. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 21,191 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,341,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,668 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,694 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 66,483 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $13,618,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 174.5% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 36,553 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,487,000 after acquiring an additional 23,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $3.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $254.41. The company had a trading volume of 203,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,739. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.30 and a twelve month high of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $257.79 and its 200-day moving average is $221.24.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $905.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.01 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Acuity Brands news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,062.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.25.

About Acuity Brands

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.