Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 23,235 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 174.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,553 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 23,235 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Acuity Brands worth $7,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AYI. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Acuity Brands by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,365,821 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $573,233,000 after purchasing an additional 17,459 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 17.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,103,793 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $187,987,000 after acquiring an additional 161,818 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 41.5% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,969 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $143,907,000 after buying an additional 247,774 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 12.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 820,077 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $139,667,000 after purchasing an additional 89,192 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 709,647 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $120,585,000 after acquiring an additional 187,128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Acuity Brands

In related news, Director Maya Leibman acquired 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,782. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Maya Leibman bought 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AYI stock traded up $1.67 on Wednesday, reaching $262.27. The company had a trading volume of 201,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,675. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $258.49 and a 200-day moving average of $223.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.30 and a 12 month high of $272.74.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.01 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AYI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $289.25.

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.