Nuveen Asset Management LLC Has $24.36 Million Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 32.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,369 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 20,190 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.27% of Acuity Brands worth $24,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 158.9% in the 4th quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,088,477 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $317,977,000 after buying an additional 668,048 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $110,236,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 241.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $63,102,000 after acquiring an additional 152,807 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 1,256.1% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 161,183 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,086,000 after acquiring an additional 149,297 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 135.8% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 180,272 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $52,663,000 after purchasing an additional 103,818 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:AYI traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $262.16. 18,383 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 356,433. The company's 50 day moving average is $251.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.58. The company has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.81 and a twelve month high of $345.30. 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 (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Acuity Brands's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AYI shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research 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 price target on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.