Transce3nd LLC Takes Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 239 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $71,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at $31,026,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at $83,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,551 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $26,314,000 after buying an additional 18,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,849,000. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of AYI opened at $229.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.81 and a 12-month high of $345.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $270.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.16%.

Acuity Brands 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.