Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,886 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,273,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 366.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,628 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $83,430,000 after buying an additional 271,485 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 187.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 330,331 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $79,755,000 after purchasing an additional 215,547 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 173,683 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $41,934,000 after purchasing an additional 135,350 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $98,306,000 after purchasing an additional 107,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,007 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $106,201,000 after purchasing an additional 63,159 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.9 %
NYSE:AYI traded up $2.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $324.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 436,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,700. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $309.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.24. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.18 and a 1 year high of $337.99.
Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is 4.46%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms recently issued reports on AYI. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $324.00.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Acuity Brands
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Acuity Brands Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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