Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Stock Holdings Lifted by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,550 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 172 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Acuity Brands by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of AYI stock opened at $273.23 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $251.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.81 and a 12 month high of $345.30. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.06. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AYI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on Acuity Brands in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Acuity Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Acuity Brands from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.60.

Acuity Brands 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.