Quantinno Capital Management LP Purchases 3,083 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,746 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned 0.12% of Acuity Brands worth $11,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Acuity Brands by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Acuity Brands by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Acuity Brands by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Acuity Brands stock traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $273.23. 145,626 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 303,898. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.05. 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. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AYI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on 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. StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price target on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.