2,110 Shares in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Purchased by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,110 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $271.26 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $251.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30.

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

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of 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 reduced their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.60.

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.

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