Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,627 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,660 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Acuity Brands worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 13.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 92.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,273,000. Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,710,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 33.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE AYI opened at $263.89 on Wednesday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.64 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $299.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $955.60 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AYI. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $336.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. William Blair upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $340.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.60.

Acuity Brands Profile

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.