Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Acquired by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,041 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 657 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 20.0% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 2,926.7% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 454 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 208.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 530 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:AYI opened at $248.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.49. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.30 and a 1-year high of $272.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $255.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.92.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity Brands news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total value of $2,031,048.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AYI shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Acuity Brands from $236.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Acuity Brands from $227.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.25.

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.