Driehaus Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 37,304 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $10,898,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Acuity Brands as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $271.85. 57,489 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,517. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Acuity Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

About Acuity Brands

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.