Apella Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,198 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 37,738 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,730,000 after purchasing an additional 4,879 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,041 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,810,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AYI traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $222.88. 158,110 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 263,522. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.49 and a 1 year high of $272.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $247.47 and a 200 day moving average of $251.39.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The electronics maker reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $968.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.52 million. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Acuity Brands from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Acuity Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.00.

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.