Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 12,492 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 384,504 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 12,492 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.24% of Acuity Brands worth $112,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $19,703,000. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Acuity Brands by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,119 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,500 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 22,620 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $6,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $3.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $274.60. 35,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,039. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $251.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.81 and a 52 week high of $345.30.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.