Transce3nd LLC Makes New Investment in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 239 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $71,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Acuity Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Acuity Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Acuity Brands in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 161 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acuity Brands Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Acuity Brands stock opened at $229.05 on Tuesday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $345.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $270.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.75.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The electronics maker reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 11.11%. Acuity Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Acuity Brands’s payout ratio is 5.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AYI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair upgraded Acuity Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Acuity Brands in a report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Acuity Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” 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.