1,858 Shares in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Acquired by Farringdon Capital Ltd.

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,858 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AYI. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

NYSE AYI traded up $5.26 on Wednesday, reaching $237.27. The stock had a trading volume of 62,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,679. 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 company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $268.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.28.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $317.60.

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.