Systematic Financial Management LP Acquires 1,940 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,706 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP owned about 0.09% of Acuity Brands worth $7,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 229.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $1,561,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AYI traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $324.73. The stock had a trading volume of 218,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.72. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.95 and a 1 year high of $337.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.45. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is currently 4.46%.

About Acuity Brands

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.