Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Invests $8.60 Million in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 29,443 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $8,601,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ owned 0.10% of Acuity Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $79,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,221 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 2,923.1% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 393 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $13,789,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 154,163 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $45,036,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

NYSE:AYI traded down $3.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $256.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 197,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,990. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $250.75 and a 200-day moving average of $288.32.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.