WBI Investments LLC Takes $616,000 Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,110 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth $19,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,500 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 22,620 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $6,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 134,591 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $39,318,000 after purchasing an additional 24,603 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

AYI traded down $2.18 on Friday, hitting $260.22. 139,207 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,626. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.81 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.