Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Takes $1.94 Million Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,630 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,313,389 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $627,225,000 after acquiring an additional 60,541 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 25,598 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,208,990 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $228,862,000 after buying an additional 195,515 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 620.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,197,721 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $198,355,000 after buying an additional 1,031,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 4.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 959,447 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $181,623,000 after buying an additional 38,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AYI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. SpectralCast reissued a “reiterates” rating on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.14.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $159.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.53. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.30 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.93 and a 200 day moving average of $164.88.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 29th. The electronics maker reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.15. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 18th were issued 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 currently 4.48%.

About Acuity Brands

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.