Acuity Brands Company Profile (NYSE:AYI)

Acuity Brands trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "AYI."

Acuity Brands announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share on Wednesday, November 1st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 17th. View Acuity Brands' Dividend History.

Acuity Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 30th 2017, which allows the company to buyback 2,000,000 shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October, 4th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks' consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $957.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.05 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. View Acuity Brands' Earnings History.

Acuity Brands is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Monday, January, 8th 2018. View Earnings Estimates for Acuity Brands.

12 analysts have issued twelve-month price objectives for Acuity Brands' stock. Their predictions range from $130.00 to $245.00. On average, they expect Acuity Brands' share price to reach $197.17 in the next twelve months. View Analyst Ratings for Acuity Brands.

Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about Acuity Brands stock:

• 1. According to Zacks Investment Research, "Shares of Acuity Brands lost 27.3% so far this year. Acuity Brands operates in a highly competitive industry that is affected by volatility owing to a number of general business and economic factors. Higher spending on research and development of energy efficient lighting products may dent margins and thereby the bottom line of the company. Gross profit margin in the last quarter decreased 200 basis points year over year. The company’s profits in the last quarter were adversely impacted by higher-than-normal supply chain costs, including increased quality expenses and inbound freight charges." (9/19/2017)
• 2. Deutsche Bank AG analysts commented, "AYI shares have been under pressure on concerns over near term risk to earnings. Although we lower our FY17/18 growth projections somewhat in order to reflect the moderating growth trends in LED lighting and slightly longer than anticipated slowdown driven by near term policy uncertainty, we maintain our Buy as our analysis and channel checks suggest that the FQ2 results would generally come in line with consensus and street ests for the remaining quarters also reflect slowdown in growth expectations. We believe share price multiple would depend on whether mgmt comments suggest acceleration in both small and larger project segments." (3/14/2017)

Some companies that are related to Acuity Brands include Lennar Corporation (LEN), Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), Masco Corporation (MAS), United Rentals (URI), Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (CX), Lennar Corporation (LEN.B), NVR (NVR), Rollins (ROL), Owens Corning (OC), PulteGroup (PHM), Lennox International (LII), Toll Brothers (TOL), Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC), Thor Industries (THO), ServiceMaster Global Holdings (SERV), Fluor Corporation (FLR), Watsco (WSO) and Watsco (WSO.B).

Acuity Brands' management team includes the folowing people:

• Vernon J. Nagel, Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
• Richard K. Reece, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
• Mark A. Black, Executive Vice President
• Peter Crane Browning, Lead Independent Director
• Mary A. Winston CPA, Director
• W. Patrick Battle, Independent Director
• James H. Hance Jr., Independent Director
• Gordon D. Harnett, Independent Director

Shares of Acuity Brands can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

One share of Acuity Brands stock can currently be purchased for approximately $162.17.