Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 174.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,553 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,235 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $7,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Acuity Brands by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Acuity Brands by 20.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Acuity Brands by 508.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 341 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity Brands by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $260.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.30 and a 52 week high of $272.74. The company has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $258.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.74.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.01 million. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 21.22%. Research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 14.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of Acuity Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.24, for a total transaction of $2,031,048.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 7,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $5,320,062.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maya Leibman purchased 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $248.91 per share, for a total transaction of $49,782.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,782. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

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.