Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 79.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,687 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 20,277 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC owned about 0.15% of Acuity Brands worth $13,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 4.4 %

Acuity Brands stock traded up $10.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $252.62. 337,727 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 303,406. The firm has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.78. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

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.