KBC Group NV Buys 125 Shares of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

KBC Group NV increased its stake in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,973 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $2,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 2.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 835,521 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $201,728,000 after purchasing an additional 20,537 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 629,893 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $152,085,000 after purchasing an additional 20,832 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 16.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,007 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $106,201,000 after purchasing an additional 63,159 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 35.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 407,164 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $98,306,000 after purchasing an additional 107,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 366.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,628 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $83,430,000 after purchasing an additional 271,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AYI stock opened at $323.47 on Tuesday. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.93 and a 12-month high of $337.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $295.08 and its 200 day moving average is $265.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.49%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Acuity Brands news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This trade represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AYI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.00.

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.