Vident Advisory LLC Buys 1,605 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,414 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC owned 0.06% of Acuity Brands worth $5,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of AYI opened at $271.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month 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 fifty day moving average price of $251.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.75.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The firm 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%. The business's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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