LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 78.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,061 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,316 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $3,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,849,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $232,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 213.4% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 3,432 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $19,703,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 7,642 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $229.08. 74,918 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,098. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $216.81 and a one year high of $345.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $275.78 and a 200-day moving average of $301.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share (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 net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Acuity Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is 5.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Acuity Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

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.