Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $29.24 Million Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,100 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 18,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.32% of Acuity Brands worth $29,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 7,642 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at about $279,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 213.4% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 3,432 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE AYI traded up $2.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $231.11. 119,219 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 295,344. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $275.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. William Blair raised Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $317.60.

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.