Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Takes $3.85 Million Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,977 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,849,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI opened at $324.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.38 and a 12 month high of $337.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $314.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.72.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. Acuity Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.