Level Four Advisory Services LLC Acquires 1,577 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,465 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,236,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands in the third quarter worth about $31,026,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 135.8% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 180,272 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $52,663,000 after purchasing an additional 103,818 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,703,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 741.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 71,744 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $20,959,000 after buying an additional 63,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Acuity Brands stock traded down $9.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $257.30. 360,183 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 337,656. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $297.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.27. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.64 and a 52-week high of $345.30. The company has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. Acuity Brands's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Acuity Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $304.00 to $370.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair upgraded Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Acuity Brands from $336.00 to $290.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Acuity Brands from $340.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $330.60.

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.