Aviva PLC Buys 2,091 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Aviva PLC grew its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 37.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,714 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,091 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $1,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 87.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 148 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 1,192.3% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 168 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 82.3% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 330 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Acuity Brands by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 340 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. 95.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of several research reports. SpectralCast restated a “reiterates” rating on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, June 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on Acuity Brands in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.14.

Acuity Brands Stock Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $158.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.53. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.30 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $163.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 29th. The electronics maker reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.34% and a return on equity of 21.97%. Analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 17th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.48%.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting and building management solutions in North America and internationally. The company operates through 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 Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, Gotham, Mark Architectural Lighting, Winona Lighting, Juno, Indy, Aculux, Healthcare Lighting, Hydrel, American Electric Lighting, Sunoptics, eldoLED, nLight, Sensor Switch, IOTA, A-Light, Cyclone, Eureka, Lumniaire LED, Luminis, Dark to Light, RELOC Wiring Solutions, and OPTOTRONIC brands.