MML Investors Services LLC Increases Holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) by 13.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Acuity Brands by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,688 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,916,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,834 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,982,396 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $564,568,000 after acquiring an additional 25,598 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $1,395,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 19,747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $190.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $185.39 and a 200 day moving average of $177.55. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.71 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 9th. The electronics maker reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.34. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 21.40%. The business had revenue of $997.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $984.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 3rd. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AYI. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $188.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Acuity Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 2,211 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.31, for a total transaction of $385,399.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,429.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 2,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.31, for a total transaction of $385,399.41. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,009,429.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 4,238 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.51, for a total transaction of $739,573.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,941,540.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

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Acuity Brands, Inc operates as an industrial technology company, which engages in the provision of lighting and building management solutions and services. It operates through the Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls and Intelligent Spaces Group segments. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.