Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,354 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $687,000.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Acuity Brands by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company's stock.
Acuity Brands Price Performance
Shares of AYI stock traded down $5.39 on Friday, hitting $262.44. 447,445 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 277,480. The stock has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.41. 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 50 day moving average of $303.24 and a 200 day moving average of $303.57. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.64 and a 12 month high of $345.30.
Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The electronics maker reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.10. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $951.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $955.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.72 EPS. Acuity Brands's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.
Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Acuity Brands's payout ratio is 5.01%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AYI shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $304.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Acuity Brands from $336.00 to $290.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. William Blair raised shares of Acuity Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $340.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $330.60.
Read Our Latest Report on AYI
About Acuity Brands
(
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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