Graham Capital Management L.P. Increases Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,486 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AYI. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,265 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth $1,065,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 206,520 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $60,331,000 after purchasing an additional 30,688 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 67,281 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $19,655,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth $10,898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $272.77. The company had a trading volume of 34,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,173. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 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. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $251.64 and a 200-day moving average of $293.32.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released 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. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. Acuity Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three investment 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 company 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.