300 Shares in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Purchased by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 300 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 366.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,628 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $83,430,000 after purchasing an additional 271,485 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 187.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 330,331 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $79,755,000 after buying an additional 215,547 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 173,683 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $41,934,000 after acquiring an additional 135,350 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,026,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 35.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $98,306,000 after acquiring an additional 107,171 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.0 %

AYI opened at $302.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $315.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $275.26. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.47 and a twelve month high of $337.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.74 earnings per share. Acuity Brands’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Acuity Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Company 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.