EAM Global Investors LLC Takes Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

EAM Global Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,246,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth $110,236,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 241.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,007 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $63,102,000 after buying an additional 152,807 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at $31,026,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 135.8% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 180,272 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $52,663,000 after buying an additional 103,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,117,489 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $326,452,000 after acquiring an additional 103,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $236.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $277.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.58.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AYI. StockNews.com cut shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $317.60.

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.