FORA Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,646 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AYI. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of AYI traded up $2.43 on Tuesday, reaching $273.82. The stock had a trading volume of 251,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,535. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.85.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

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.