Northern Trust Corp Has $100.97 Million Stock Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 345,618 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 34,562 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.12% of Acuity Brands worth $100,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 911 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 293 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 951 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $255.71. The company had a trading volume of 51,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,065. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.81 and a 1-year high of $345.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $252.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.39. The stock has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 0.27%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded 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. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands 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.